Sword art online extended
by tmb1112
Summary: Sword Art Online has started and Kirito must survive to escape back to reality. Goes into the months left out by the time skips. R/R
1. Chapter 1

**A/n Sword Art Online season 1 was on Netflix and I decided to watch an episode to see if I liked it... I finished season 2 two days later. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the show, hope you enjoy my Fanfic.**

"A forced teleport?" Kirito whispered as he looked around the enormous plaza in the Town of Beginnings. He'd never liked the first city and even in the beta-test he rarely came back to it if it wasn't necessary.

The bell in the center of the square stopped ringing and the players all looked up as a red hexagon appeared on the ceiling. More and more began to spread all around the sky as scared players began shouting.

"Is this an event?"

"I want to log out."

"Ahhh!" The scream came from a little girl who almost fainted at the sight of the red liquid seeping from between the cracks in the hexagons. It looked like the sky was bleeding and it made the black haired avatar shiver as he looked at his new friend in worry. _Damn it, why couldn't me or Klein log out, what's happening?_

Kirito's question was soon answered as the blood-like fluid falling from the sky transformed into a huge figure with a red cloak. As the man explained what was happening, Kirito shot his eyes around the central square and analyzed hs surroundings. A pair of people tried to walk out of the plaza but a forcefield knocked them back causing a bunch of angry and scared yells to be shouted at the weird figure.

_Akihiko Kayaba, it's definitely him,_ Kirito had done his research on the creator of the game he was so invested in, so he knew that only this man was capable of trapping them all inside the game like this. _But why is he doing this, is it some sort of challenge to start off the game right?_

"...and no one on the outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear." Kirito's face fell in shock as he thought about what this meant but his face distorted even further as the ominous floating figure continued, "Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit powerful microwaves, destroying your brain and ending your life."

Klein asked if the man was serious and Kirito became grim, explaining that it was possible that the NerveGears could do something like that. The pink haired man seemed to be in disbelief but he turned back to stare at the looming cloaked man.

The kid felt his vision go blurry as his head swarmed with possibilities. _Maybe this really is just an event. What if it's real? Sugu... what if I never get out of here?_ He shook his head and gave a weak smile to Klein who didn't see him since his eyes were focused on the figure above and his bottom jaw was dropped several inches. _It's probably nothing big, he'll get in so much trouble for pulling a stunt like this, I hope it doesn't affect the future... of... Sword, NO!_

The fourteen year old felt his heart wrench as he heard what Kayaba was saying, "Unfortunately, there have been several instances where players' friends and families have ignored this warning and attempted to forcibly remove the NerveGear," _if they did that..._ "As a result, two hundred and thirteen players have exited permanently from both Aincrad and the real world."

_This is insanity,_ Kirito tried to calm himself down as Klein and the others around him started to yell at the hooded figure. _Akihiko Kayaba, why?_ The man was explaining that the world's media was already in an uproar; news articles started appearing all over the plaza so the players could look on for themselves. He told them that the risk of someone removing their headset would be lowered now that people knew the danger of removing it, but it didn't make the terrified ten thousand players feel any better.

Kirito was staring at one of the news articles in particular but he was still listening to the crazed game creator and his mouth opened a little in shock as he heard the next segment, "The instant your HP drops to zero, your avatars will vanish forever. Simultaneously, your brains will be destroyed by the NerveGear."

As the man kept explaining, Kirito felt increasing afraid that he was never going to get out of the game. _Clear all hundred floors! I spent months in here and barely made it to floor eight!_

All the players removed the item that Kayaba revealed to them from their inventories and stared into the mirror they were each holding. Within a few seconds, blue lights surrounded them and they saw their real faces appear in the reflection, "The full body scan," he explained it to Klein who didn't look much different than his avatar. Then again, neither did Kirito. _He just bought the system when he got the game, he's still new at all this._

"Right now you all must be wondering why?" the figure started talking again and Kirito looked up.

_Actually, those were my thoughts exactly._

"My goal has already been accomplished. I created Sword Art Online for one reason... To create this world and mettle in it. And now, all is complete..."

"Kayaba," Kirito growled as he clenched his fists.

The red cloaked figure started to raise his arms and said in a welcoming tone, "This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. I wish you luck players." His body started to smoke and fizzled out of existence, the sky turning back to its normal color.

_This __**is**__ happening, Sugu and her mom were definitely on that monitor, and they were crying. They're hoping, praying, that I come back to them as soon as I can. So that's what I'm going to do._ Kirito's hair extended over his eyes and cast a shadow over them as he continued glaring straight ahead. _Kayaba you madman, 213 people are dead because of you! This is real,_ he shot his head up as a little girl's scream echoed throughout the plaza. Immediately following her, the entire crowd of now 9,787 people started to panic and start rioting as they tried to all escape the square at the same time.

Kirito noticed that the barrier surrounding the outside of the central square faded and he turned to the man he'd been helping learn how to play all morning. In a quiet whisper he pulled the man aside, "Come with me Klein," _we can't talk here, too much chaos._

As soon as they were a safe distance from the center of the Town of Beginnings, Kirito turned to the now red-haired man and started talking, "Right now I'm going to the next village. Come with me. If everything he said is true..." Kirito went into his theory about how they needed to become as strong as possible fast because the resources around them were limited.

"B-but... I was out all night with friends from another game waiting on line to buy this. They must be out there in the plaza. I can't leave them behind." Klein explained and the younger boy looked at him, contemplating his options. _Just Klein would have been fine, maybe even better to have someone watching my back, but two, or three more people is... _"Sorry, I can hardly ask you for anything else, can I?" Klein asked while smiling. He seemed unusually calm considering the situation they were in.

_Klein... I'm sorry,_ the man tried consoling him saying that he would be fine since he ran a guild in the last game he played. However, Kirito knew better than anyone that this was unlike most VRMMOPG's. He was part of the thousand beta-testers that tried out the game first and knew exactly what was in store for hundreds, if not thousands of players if they weren't careful. "I see, then let's say goodbye here. If something happens message me."

The red-haired man smiled at him and waved as his young mentor ran off down the street. Kirito glanced back once, but his new friend was already gone, heading back to the plaza for his lost friends.

The two of them were already close to the outskirts of town and after saying goodbye, they separated and Kirito sprinted out of town. He used the main road out of the city and as he looked to either side of him, he saw a few players, mostly going solo like him. _They must all be beta-testers,_ he realized that a small group of them, exactly one tenth, were going to have an extreme advantage over the others.

He was just guessing that the others were beta-testers, but after seeing one attack a wild boar like the one he helped Klein defeat, he knew they had been in Aincrad before. The boy shook his head and stared straight down the road, _you don't have time to think about anyone else, I need to get stronger. Stronger than anyone else. I'm going... I'm going to suvive..._ He slowly unsheathed his beginner sword from behind his back and charged forwards at the wolf that appeared in front of him.

One strike was all it took to slice straight through the creature and it exploded into a hundred little blue particles. _In this world!_ He looked up at the sky and screamed, letting out all the anger that had been welling up inside him for the past hour. _I will clear this game, and get back home._

After night had fallen, Kirito finally saw the next town and picked up the pace as he ran towards it. _Urg, stupid name for a town,_ it was much smaller than the Town of Beginnings, but it was where most of the good quests on the first floor came out of. _If I do the Isenrall quest first I'll get the sword reward that will make the other first floor quests easy as cake._

As he got into the safe zone of the town and monsters stopped forming around him, he looked up at the sky upon hearing a loud bang. Spreading across the sky was a large photo of a person he didn't recognize. _Uhiko Pina? _Another bang that sounded like a gunshot rang out and he saw another photo appear next to his.

Under the names of the players' he looked at their photos, and more importantly, the time written under their pictures. _TOD?_ There were three large letters before the time and each time a person appeared on the sky accompanied by a gunshot, he saw that the time was getting later and later each time.

The photos didn't stop at ten but Kirito continued to count until he reached twenty, then fifty, then a hundred. The number doubled again and it finally reached two hundred and thirteen. _Wait, T.O.D. Time. Of... Death..._ he thought the pictures would stop appearing and forced himself to look down so as not to get too depressed by the adults and children alike that he knew were dead. Suddenly another shot rang out and he looked up at the sky again, seeing another photo appear. _That time is after the announcement in the square!_

More and more photos appeared in the sky, pushing aside other photos an becoming a huge box filled with faces. _They all have loved ones, people who cared about them!_ His sadness turned to fury as the gunshots finally stopped. He thought the number was somewhere around two hundred and thirty.

_Those fools, they know that if they die here they die for real, so why are so many of them still dying?_ He walked into the inn and saw the NPC innkeeper who would give him the quest for the sword. As he collected the quest he thought about it further, _we don't need food to eat, or water to drink. I don't need to sleep, however, I might go insane if I don't so I have to be careful about that. People other than me will try to clear the game. Other beta-testers will fail: they'll play like they did in the beta, when the world was fresh and had respawn points. If they don't adapt to the new way of playing, they'll die trying to survive in the old way._

As he walked out of the inn he looked both ways for other players and saw three men coming towards the building from down the road. They saw him and ran over, _I'm in a safe zone,_ he reminded himself as the people ran to him. "How did you get here so fast?"

"We've been running since the announcement but still just barely made it here," the man was panting and Kirito recognized him. He fought the level three boss with him during the beta-test. _His avatar looks very similar to the real thing._ The man realized the same thing and said, "Wait, are you Kirito?"

The black haired boy nodded and the man turned to his friends that were with him. Apparently they weren't part of the beta-test as he started waving his arms around and shouting, "This kid was a lone wolf back in the beta. Got farther than I ever did, maybe farther than anyone," he looked back and his friends turned too but Kirito was already far down the street and exited the town.

The kid thought about smirking, knowing proudly that his reputation followed him. Unfortunately, he was not in the mood for smiling as the photos on the ceiling slowly faded. _From this world, and the real one._ He growled and headed in the direction of Isenrall.

**Day 2**

Kirito felt that he should sleep, knowing that he'd been awake for over thirty hours straight already. He looked around the meadow he was standing on and sighed, all the level one and two beasts that were forming on it couldn't even take a fraction off his health if they tried. He finished all the quests in the Inn, and moved to some of the other buildings in Urg, taking as many as he could find.

The quests sent him all over the first floor area around the town and he had to explore two separate dungeons that had enemies up to level ten. Now, the boars and wolves wandering around the meadow could be inches away from him but they wouldn't be agroed on him because of the huge difference in their levels. _Maybe I could just lie down for a little bit._

He still had a completed quest on him and wanted to go hand it in to gain more experience, but a nap did sound good right about now. Kirito was about to sit when he heard a scream and looked across the meadow. _What is he... No!_ Kirito started to sprint through the grass, drawing his sword as he did. _Why are they all attacking him?_ He looked up at the health bar near the top of the kid's head. His eyes went wide, despite it already being deep in the red, there was a level indicator, _why is a level two fighting all of them at once while he's alone!?_

Kirito got closer and started shouting to try and get the animals' attentions but they all seemed to take that exact moment to charge the kid at the same time. "NO!" he screamed and the boy dropped his sword and looked twenty meters in the distance where Kirito was running towards him.

"Help..." the boy was cut short as two wolves bit into either of his arms and pulled them off. "AHHH!" he screamed before flashing blue and dissolving.

Kirito stopped running and stared at the spot where the child was a second before, _he couldn't have been over ten years old. _"This is sick!" he screamed at the sky in anger. A gunshot sounded and he saw the kid's face appear in the sky. _Don't look at it,_ his hair shadowed his eyes as he continued walking towards the four creatures still standing where the child's body should have been. "RaaaAAAA," he charged and sliced through all the enemies in one shot.

Even avenging the kid didn't quell the burning hatred growing inside Kirito as he forgot completely about the nap he was planning on taking. The boy turned back towards Urg and ran to the town, staring through strands of hair as he did, not caring to push them to the side.

Overnight, Urg had started to bustle with people. Any beta-testers who were good, as well as the regular players who followed them, were leveling up and gaining experience fast. Kirito walked into town and handed in his quest to the blacksmith. "Thank you for helping out my shop, next time you come, I'll give you..."

"A twenty percent discount, yeah I know," Kirito responded as he shut the door in the NPC blacksmith's face. _All these quests once seemed so original to me, playing them for a second time doesn't seem too much fun. The only difference so far..._ he'd taken a break from quests during the long first night to check on the floor one boss, but when he got to the area it was supposed to be, all he found was a large group of arguing beta-testers, all confused at why the boss's dungeon entrance was gone.

After listening in to their conversation, he had to agree with their theory that Kayaba didn't want the first eight floors to be too easy and moved the boss room around. As Kirito looked around at the fighters gathered he was happy they didn't find the boss room, they would've been slaughtered in the states they were in. A bunch of frantic, panicking players doesn't make for a great raid party and he didn't want them all to get slaughtered.

Now Kirito was walking back down the main street of Urg. His hair still shadowed his eyes as he scanned around him. A few people were dueling, some were eating, some laughing, the ones who had left the Town of Beginnings were the ones more able to adapt than the others.

He saw a media file box in front of the post office and went and deposited five Col into the slot, receiving a small white platform which showed him the news. Some of it was the normal stuff that he saw in the beta, but there was another section that looked like it was written manually. It talked about how the majority of people were staying in the big city and a guild that proclaimed themselves the protectors of the city had already been formed. _The Army, good name if all they're going to do is protect the newbs,_ he felt a little more reassured that the people back there were in good hands and a thought crossed his mind, _wonder if Klein is still there._

Kirito shook his head and deposited the media file into his trashcan. His spirits were raised a little and he thought, _no way, he wouldn't just stay there. I'll see him again, probably at the boss raid if nowhere else._

The fourteen year old grimaced as another gunshot sounded and he saw most of the people on the street look up with frowns. _If they're going to do that every time someone dies, then we might all go crazy sooner or later._ He went into the town hall and grabbed the hardest quests in Urg, just as he suspected, the building was empty except for him and the NPC's.

_No one else has made it here yet, probably won't for another couple of hours,_ after he took the quests from the distraught mayor and worried knights, he heard a noise behind him and turned around. He started walking towards the door and as he reached for it, it was pulled out slowly and a brown-cloaked figure poked her head in the door. Kirito came face to face with her and she let out a high pitched yelp before closing the door.

_Weird, wait. If she was here, does that mean she's already ready for these quests, or is she just lost?_ He pushed the door out and stepped back on the busy street but the cloaked girl was nowhere to be found. _Probably just lost,_ he chuckled and then got serious again, turning the direction his quests were towards on the map and starting to sprint.

**Day 5**

Kirito growled and threw the media file on the ground where it exploded into a bunch of blue virtual fragments. _Four hundred! This game is ruthless, no. Not a game, this world is ruthless._ He turned the corner of the street he was on and saw a sight to behold.

His face lit up and he stepped forwards, seeing Klein in the distance and wanting to run over to him. _I was worried that if I continued to not look at the pictures, I wasn't going to know if he was ok or not._ He saw the red-haired man with the scruffy chin laugh heartily and pat the man next to him on the back.

They were all wearing red and as he looked closer, they were definitely part of a party, maybe even a guild already. He was glad that he leveled up his sight so that he could see farther away and he was able to stop before the other man saw him. _He might invite me to join, I don't want to turn him down... again._ The black haired teen turned and walked back down the empty street, _I need to get stronger, or we'll never get out of this game._

**Day 12**

"How could no one have found the boss room yet!" A man shouted from atop a cardboard box. He was in the middle of the bustling market of the Town of Beginnings, and shouting to a huge crowd of people as Kirito exchanged some of his monster drops for cash.

The kid was thinking about stopping there to get some food but as he heard the man shouting he felt that urge again. It was the one that told him to stop fooling around, that Sugu was waiting for him to come back home. He'd told his only friend in SAO that he had a sister and a mother, but he knew that he wasn't really that woman's son, or the girl's brother. He'd treated the girl so coldly ever since he found out about it a few years before.

The two of them used to be inseparable, but when he realized that she wasn't really a real part of his family, he tried to distance himself. _I'm sorry Sugu, I'll come home. Things will be different, I promise._

He left the town and headed to one of the areas on the first floor he had yet to explore. The dungeons were well hidden for the most part, if you didn't know where to find them, and truthfully, Kirito had never spent too much time of the first floor during the beta-test. Those two months were spent shooting up the floors as fast as he could, dying over and over in boss fights to learn their strategies before going in a final time for the kill. He knew his entire game plan had to change and he was just looking for the first level boss room now.

Around midday, he found a dungeon he'd never been to before. Inside weren't the highest level monsters he'd fought so far, but he couldn't defeat them all in one hit so the experience helped. When a person reaches as high of a level that he had reached, experience doesn't do much for him anymore. The monsters are so much lower of a level than he is that he can't continue to gain strength at as fast a pace as the first few days. This was put in place primarily to make it so that players couldn't be completely ready for the next floor, but also so that they would have a hard time fighting the boss.

The boss on each floor was so much more powerful than each of the individual monsters that no single player, or even a group of people under three parties of seven, had been able to defeat one during the beta-test. As Kirito reached the end of the dungeon he scowled, "Tssk, another dead-end." He pulled out a teleportation crystal and vanished, appearing back in the center of Rath, one of the cities he'd set his home to while on the first floor.

Kirito went up to the room he was renting and pulled out a hologram of the map of the first floor. He tapped on one of the dots on the image and it faded, still leaving hundred more on it. "Another one down," he whispered to himself, falling back on the bed, "another thousand places to search." He closed his eyes and before he knew it he was asleep.

**Day 26**

_Almost a month has passed since this game has started and during that time, two thousand people have died._ Kirito had his back leaning up against a wall of a building in Tolbana. He was darting his eyes around the park in front of him, somewhat upset, and somewhat at ease upon seeing the large number of people sitting around and talking, or having picnics.

_Not everyone needs to treat this like the end of the world, but they could at least help out a little,_ he sighed and looked up at the sky. _We still haven't been able to find the first floor boss. None of the other beta-testers have found it either and we're all just sitting around waiting for something to happen. That's probably why yesterday's media file said to meet here for a meeting today._ Kirito got off of the wall as he saw another two players walk towards the amphitheater where they were going to hold the meeting. The were obviously fighters telling from the swords strapped on their backs instead of tucked away in their inventories.

After he walked into the open-air theatre and sat down on a bench, he stared up at the sky wondering whether any off the people there were even capable of fighting a boss. A few minutes later the meeting started with a blue haired man up front. His name was Diabel and he called himself a knight which got a few laughs from the audience he had in front of him.

_Makes sense that so few people showed up,_ Kirito looked around and realized there were only about fifty or so people gathered around, despite there being hundreds if not thousands that were probably looking for the boss's room. _Does this guy think this is a game._

Kirito's opinion of the man changed as Diabel's demeanor suddenly switched to serious and he looked straight at the gathered crowd. "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower."

The teenager leaned forwards, he had been looking all over the place for it, and was sure that he checked the dungeons up there as well. _Looks like this guy really does know what he's doing._ "We need to defeat the boss, and get to the second floor. That was we can tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game. That's the duty of everyone of us here now! Isn't that right everybody?"

Kirito smiled as everyone around him started clapping and whistling. The man started going into the details of the plan but he decided that everyone would get into parties first. The boy quickly realized that he was being left out as all the people around him moved towards each other and formed perfect groups of six each.

He looked around for anyone that still needed a party member, not wanting to be left out after all he'd worked for and finally saw her. _Wait,_ he saw a lone figure wearing a red cloak who looked very similar to the person he bumped into when he was leaving the mayor's office back in Urg.

Kirito scooted down the bench and whispered to her, "You got left out too?" She was sitting all by herself and hadn't moved since Diabel sent them to gather in groups.

"I wasn't left out. Everyone else seemed to be friends already, so I just stayed out of it," she sounded very sad and Kirito offered to enter her in his party. She nodded to him and he invited her, which she quickly accepted. _Asuna,_ he saw the name appear under the green bar on the top right of his vision.

Soon Diabel started talking again. He checked if everyone had a party and was going to go straight into the specifics of the raid, but someone interrupted him from atop the bleachers.

"My name's Kibaou," he went on to explain how angry he was at beta-testers for running off and taking all the good quests and experience. They abandoned all the people still at the Town of Beginnings and even Kirito lowered his head realizing that they were somewhat at fault.

"My name is Agil," Kirito looked up and saw a large, dark-skinned man standing over Kibaou who started to lose his nerve upon looking at the bulky individual. "You received this guidebook didn't you..." Kirito started to smirk as he saw where the man was going with this, "Beta-testers made this book. You all had it," he started addressing everyone and Kibaou went to sit down. "Yet many people still died."

Diabel went on to explain that the guidebook was updated and he went into the exact specifics of the boss. The dark-haired boy at the top of the bleachers nodded, remembering the boss when he first fought it.

"EXP will go to the party that defeats the monster, and whoever receives an item..." Kirito stopped paying much attention and caster a glance at the girl next to him. "Ten a.m. tomorrow." The meeting seemed to be finished and Kirito saw the angry short man Kibaou shaking hands with the blue-haired knight Diabel. _Well, at least he's a little calmer than he was earlier._ _If everyone starts to turn on the beta-testers, it could cause a rift between players._

The cloaked girl walked away from him and he watched he go before relaxing and lying back. There was no point in trying to go get more experience now, the little bit extra wouldn't make a difference in the boss fight. Instead, he wandered around Tolbana for a few hours before stopping at the party that the fighters were all taking part in.

He saw Kibaou and Diabel with their elbows locked as they took swigs of beer from mugs and then he saw who he was really looking for. Kirito walked over to the girl in the dark red cloak and stood behind her. She seemed so sad and alone as she ate the loaf of bread in her hand so he went and sat next to her. They were going to be in the same party after all so he needed her to trust him, and as importantly he needed to be able to trust her.

"They really are good aren't they, but I like to change it up a little," he had his own loaf out now and was chomping down on it. He let her try the butter substitute he had obtained and she seemed to really like it as she quickly devoured the rest of her meal.

Once he offered to show her where she could get more of the butter, she shook her head and in a solemn tone whispered, "I didn't come to this town to eat good food."

"Then why did you?" the boy asked, genuinely intrigued.

"So I can still be me. I'd rather stay myself until the very last moment than lock myself in an inn back in the first town, and slowly rot away." _That slow rotting is exactly what thousands of people are doing right now,_ Kirito thought as she spoke. He had often thought the same things, "Even if I'm defeated by a monster and die, I don't want to lose to this game... this world. No matter what." Her words sounded so similar to him that he felt a connection with his new party member.

"I wouldn't want a party member dying on me, so at the very least, don't die tomorrow," he requested with a small smile. She looked back at him and her lips almost moved up enough at the sides to call it a smile, but as soon as she did, she turned back to watch the party.

The two of them sat there in silence for a while before standing up and going their separate ways, mentally preparing themselves for the next day.

**Day 27**

"That's when you'll do a switch," Kirito wasn't happy that he was put in the back, but it made sense strategically with his group being the smallest. Their party would fight back the boss's Kobold minions while everyone else targeted the main monster.

"Switch?" she asked him.

"Don't tell me, is this the first time you've been in a party?"

"Yes," she responded and he looked down, fearing he had a lot of explaining to do before they reached the boss room at the top of the tower.

About an hour later, an hour full of explaining how parties and raids work for Kirito, the raid party made it to the boss room. After a quick pump up speech, Diabel led everyone inside the room, weapons drawn and potions ready.

The lights in the room turned on and a huge red monster with an axe and a buckler roared, landing on the floor in the center of the room. Above its head read the words, 'Illfang the Kobold Lord.' _There he is,_ "Attack!" Diabel pointed his sword ahead and their plans started moving into action.

Asuna and Kirito stayed in the back as they watched the army converge on the three minions and the boss. If anyone had to retreat because they were low on health, the two of them would give the person enough time to get somewhere safe. The black haired teen stared ahead in respectful surprise as he saw the beta-hater Kibaou was the first to charge in and clash swords with a Kobold minion.

After twenty minutes of fighting, the boss was still standing strong and Kirito watched Diabel in amazement. The blue-haired man was meant to be their leader as he switched parties at the exact right moments to keep any of their members from dropping too low. "Squad B block..." Kirito parried an attack by one of Illfang's minions and shouted, 'Switch.' Diabel was more focused on the main battle and the two of them were keeping monsters off of him while they did. When he shouted, the girl behind him charged forwards with a thin sword called a Rapier raised.

_She didn't know what a switch was, but her dexterity is amazing. I can't even see the tip of her sword,_ "Good job," he whispered as she took out the Kobold and it vanished.

He heard loud growling coming from the main fight and spun, looking over at the large dog-like monster. It was already down in the red and he grinned, seeing the end of the battle in sight. The monster threw its weapons down and Kirito watched as Diabel ran to the front of the pack. _I thought everyone was going to attack together. _He saw the blue-haired man smirk at him, _he just wants the experience._

The boy thought he'd be angrier but he suddenly became worried about the man who claimed to be a knight. The information they got in the guidebook was wrong, this boss was different than the one in the beta. Instead of a Talwar, which they thought he was going to have, he had a _No-Dachi!_ "It's no good! Jump back as far as you can," Diabel ignored him and charged at the monster with his Sword Skill readied.

The Kobold Lord gained speed fast as he bounced off the walls and slammed down on top of an astonished Diabel. The slash it made with its weapon cut all the way up the man's torso before Illfang smacked him to the side and jumped into another group. "Diabel!" Kibaou shouted before having a shadow drop over him and the boss roared in his face. They didn't have the luxury to check on him and started going on the defensive as the monster had become too powerful in the last bit of health that it had left.

Kirito ran over to the collapsed leader however and bent down over him, "Diabel." He looked at the man's health and it was lowering fast, dropping down into the red and still decreasing. "Why did you try to do it alone?" the fourteen year old asked.

He tried to hand the dying man a potion but Diabel pushed it away, clasping Kirito's hand with his own. "You were a beta-tester, weren't you? You know." The way that Diabel said it, Kirito knew the man was one himself.

"You were after the rare item from the last attack bonus," he stated. He'd heard about it but never seen the man who vanquished the boss the first time ever use the item. "You were a beta-tester too," he asked already knowing the answer.

"Defeat the boss, for everyone," Diabel responded and then he exploded into hundreds of shining blue lights.

Kirito still had his hands outstretched to where he was holding the man a second before. _When this death game started, all I thought about was my own survival._ He remembered ditching Klein with a pang of regret, he remembered all the faces he saw that first night. _But Diabel, you never abandoned the other players. You led everyone and you fought brilliantly, you did what I couldn't. This game needed someone like you,_ he frowned and stood up, looking at the monster as it roared at the group of attackers.

His party member walked up to him, sword ready, "I'll go too." She'd heard what Diabel said and was ready to start fighting for others, not just to keep herself alive.

"Thanks, use the same sequence we used against the sentinels," they charged forwards as the other raid members backed off. Kirito sprinted forwards and deflected an attack from the boss before shouting, "Switch!" The girl ran towards the monster and pulled up her Rapier for an attack but Kirito saw its eyes glow red, "Asuna!"

She had seen it as well and in mid-air, she twisted her body to dodge the next attack. Illfang sliced through her cloak with his extra long sword and it was destroyed. Long, light orange hair flowed out from underneath it and Kirito saw the beautiful girl around his age turn back and stab the monster hard in the stomach with a "Hi-ya!"

The amazed look was wiped off his face as he became serious again and parried a few more attacks from the Kobold lord. Asuna charged in and used his attacks to her advantage, slamming the monster multiple times in the chest and stomach with her sword, making Illfang grunt.

It swiped in to attack Asuna while her guard was down but Kirito jumped in front and blocked his attacks one by one. Finally it caught him off guard as well and slammed him hard backwards into Asuna where they both fell to the ground, his sword dropping to the floor.

The girl leaned over Kirito and watched his health decrease almost halfway which surprised her. _That attack was enough to kill Diabel, but it didn't even take him more than halfway down._ She looked up in fright as a shadow fell over her and Illfang had his weapon raised again. The No-Dachi started coming down but the black man from the meeting jumped in front and parried the blow away.

"We'll hold him off for now," Agil said and charged forwards with a party of six. They were all defeated quickly but had stalled for enough time for Kirito to get back on his feet.

"Watch out!" Kirito shouted to the fellow members who were all lying on the floor, about to be struck by the boss's powerful attack. It was coming down fast but Kirito met it mid-flight, "I'll get you first," he screamed in a rage-filled voice.

Many of the others watched with dumbstruck awe as Kirito slammed the monster across the room and into the floor.

"That thing just defeated seven of us without a problem, but against him alone its struggling."

"Who is that guy?"

"Asuna," Kirito called over as he dive-rolled and sprinted towards the monster. "One last attack! Let's do it together."

"Roger!" she shouted back and they charged the weakened beast together. It was low on health now and they were going to finish it. This time Asuna was the one to attack first, her strike knocking the monster off balance enough for Kirito to follow through.

"AhhhHHHHH," he shouted louder and louder as he swung his sword across Illfang's stomach and the stabbed him in the side. "RAAAA!" he continued to scream as he pulled his sword up the monster from its waist all the way to its head and split it in half. The beast stumbled back a step or two, and then it exploded into a bunch of blue shards.

Everyone remained silent for a few seconds before, "We did it!" Cheers burst out as everyone started celebrating and partying.

Kirito was kneeling with one foot on the ground and saw the message appear in front of him. 'You got the final attack bonus.' Another screen popped up with the words, 'Bonus Item,' on it. _Coat of Midnight,_ that sounded exactly like his style and he accepted the reward.

"Good work," he heard Asuna say from behind him and he turned around.

"That was excellent swordsmanship," the black man Agil continued. "Congratulations. This victory belongs to you."

_No, it belongs to Diabel,_ no matter how pleased he was to have defeated the level one boss, it wasn't worth a man's life. However, everyone else started clapping for him and cheering him on.

"Why," Kirito heard it over the applause and looked for the source of the saddened voice. "Why?" it asked louder and the clapping stopped as everyone turned to Kibaou who had an angry look on his face. "Why did you let Diabel die?!"

"Let him die?" Kirito asked, looking at the ginger man who was sitting on the floor with a few of his supporters.

"Of course!" he shouted at the kid. "You knew what technique the boss would use! If you'd given us that information up front, he wouldn't have died!" Slowly the people who were only seconds before clapping for him turned on him and stared questioningly.

"He must be a beta-tester," one person next to Kibaou pointed and called out. "That's how he knew all about the boss's attack patterns. He knew but he kept it from us!"

_Stupid._

"There's gotta be others here too, right? Those beta testers!" if the man had thought about it, he probably would've realized that many, if not most of the people there were probably beta testers considering their group was supposed to be the strongest there was so far. "Come out!" Nobody moved but a few people started questioning each other with uneasy looked on their faces.

_Stupid._

"Are you one?"

"No, of course not," another man responded, looking away in fear of being persecuted.

_Stupid fools, there's only one option._ All around him, beta testing was becoming synonymous with evil and it wasn't going to be pretty if this continued. As Asuna and Agil tried to reason with Kibaou, Kirito just started to laugh. Quietly at first, but slowly he got louder and louder until the entire room was looking at him. _'Beta-testers are so bad, they should've helped more!' Arrogant pricks don't even care that I just saved them._

His laughing only got louder until it filled the entire room, "An ex-beta tester you say? I wish you wouldn't compare me to those newbies."

"W-what?!" Kibaou shouted, surprised that someone admitted to being a beta-tester. Sweat started to slowly drip down his face as he stared at the boy now facing the entire raid group.

"Most of the 1,000 people who won SAO beta test slots were beginners who didn't even know how to level up." Now everyone was looking at him with semi-scared looks as he walked into the group. People parted to the sides so that he could walk straight up to Kibaou. "Even you guys are better than them," the way he said it sounded snide and like he was suggesting he was better than they were.

Kibaou gulped as Kirito walked right between the two fighters who were sticking up for him. Even Agil and Asuna were looking at the kid with worried looks. "But I'm not like those guys. During the beta test, I made it to higher levels than anyone else was able to reach. The reason I know about the boss's sword skills," he smirked evily at the man in front of him and continued, "was because I fought tons of monsters with those skills on floors far above us." His hair shadowed his eyes and he glared at the man in front of him while smirking, "I know lots of other things too. Way more than any information broker."

Now the man who was starting the riots against beta-testers started to regain himself and said, "That's, that's way worse than a beta tester!" He started clenching his fists in frustration, "That's cheating! You're a cheater that's what you are."

"A beta tester and a cheater," someone shouted out.

"A beater."

"A, beater," Kirito muttered, "that's a good name." He saw Asuna looking at him with a disappointed look and understood that he was acting horribly to the other players, but it was the only way he could think of that could get the heat away from all the beta-testers. "I am a beater," he opened up his inventory and selected his new cape, "from now on, don't confuse me with those other testers."

The room suddenly felt very eerie as everyone stopped shouting at Kirito and just stared. He equipped the cloak that was much more powerful than anything else on floor one, it had defense that gained strength as the user progressed so that it would continue to be the best throughout the game. _Coat of Midnight, I like it._ His black coat made him seem much more menacing than the usual garb that you could buy in the store that everyone else was adorned in.

He slowly walked away from the now speechless group until he got to the exit to the second floor. "Wait," he heard a girl's voice call from behind him. "You called my name when we were fighting."

Kirito didn't turn to face her, he simply responded, "Sorry for being rude. Or did I mess up the pronunciation?"

"Where did you learn it?" she asked.

"You can see another HP gauge below yours around here right," normally he didn't like explaining to newbies, but she had helped him a lot during the fight._ Probably wouldn't have been able to defeat it without her._ "Isn't there something written below that?"

"Kirito, is that your name?" he nodded, "Oh," she said blushing and smiling at him, "so it was there the whole time." She kept laughing trying to lighten the mood.

He was partly turned towards her but he now faced the doorway completely. "You can become powerful," he whispered so that only she could hear it. "So if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down. Because there's an absolute limit to what you can do as a solo player."

"What about you?" she whispered back. He seemed so lonely and she wanted to stay with him but he had his own path to follow.

Kirito dissolved their party and walked forwards, the door to the second floor opening up and allowing him to walk through. She didn't follow from behind him, getting the message and turning back to join with the rest of the group as they headed back to the first floor. It was time for them to tell the rest of the people trapped there that the game was beatable.

The boy walking the opposite direction let the noise of the raid group fade into the distance as he walked up the steps and out into the clean air once more. It was sunny outside and he smiled as he felt the heat bear down on him and he could see the new beast running around that would replace the boars and wolves of the first floor.

Just as he was about to head to the closest town where he knew there would be quests, a gunshot was fired and he looked up at the sky. In the air was a picture of a man with blue hair. _Diabel Bu, _he grimaced and shook the image of the dying man out of his head. _Remember what he said, it's up to me now._ He started running across the grass and shouted, "I _will_ win, and I'll get everyone out of here Diabel."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

**Decmber 9, 2022.**

"Fifty Col and I might tell you," the girl in the cloak whispered to Kirito with a smirk.

He groaned and made the transfer, "Alright, spill it Argo."

"You really should have fought the boss during the beta Kirito, it would have been a lot easier, and _cheaper,_" the short female laughed and pulled up her data on the boss. She was an information broker and had compiled notes on all the known monsters, she liked to think of herself as the best, and Kirito had to agree. "It's going to be smaller than the first boss, but don't forget that every boss is going to be harder than the one before it. You just need to get stronger too so that it doesn't feel like it."

"Yeah, I know all this already. Not really worth fifty Col was it?" he turned around with a sigh and started walking away from the girl.

He knew she was too proud to let him walk away and risk her reputation being tarnished. "Hold on big guy, who said I was finished?" she tugged on the back of his black cloak and he turned around slowly to face her. "He wields a two handed axe and focuses mainly on strength attacks. You should be able to out last him with your speed as long as you don't trip and get hit... actually considering it's you, maybe you should just sit this one..."

"Thanks for the info Argo," he smiled at her and turned back around. He gave a small wave before teleporting back to the inn that he was staying at.

The boss room had already been located, but Kirito was alone in wanting to charge right in. He didn't ask anyone for help, considering he had made himself out to look like an ass the last time he was with a group of people. Now he was just waiting for another group to attack the boss so he could join in with them.

_Just go do it, you can take him on your own... don't listen to that voice,_ he walked upstairs to his room and went inside. The boy collapsed on his bed, having gone another two days straight without sleep and finally put aside some time for rest. He started to hear gunshots outside and he ran to the window, looking up at the sky. _Don't be there,_ he watched as twelve people's faces showed up in the sky and sighed in relief. He knew it was terrible to be relieved at a moment like that, but he was just looking to make sure that one person was not there.

The next morning, Kirito woke up naturally and yawned, sticking his arms up in the air and stretching. He did some early morning quests and stopped back at the town he was staying in for lunch. When he arrived there he heard some ruckus around the corner and went to check it out.

Kirito stayed in the shadows since when most people saw him they growled or gave him dirty looks and he saw a gathering of people in the town square. _What's going on?_

"It's only been a week, give us some more time to prepare," one player called out and got many agreements from the others around him.

This time Kirito heard a young girl's voice and moved closer as he heard her, "So? If we wait over a week for every boss, we'll be in here for over two years!" No one seemed to argue with her on that point, but they weren't ready to run to their deaths either.

A tall man wearing a white jacket stepped forwards and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. She looked up at him surprised and a few others looked over as well as the man looked to them, "We'll attack three days from now." Kirito looked closer and saw the girl was indeed his old party member Asuna and he smiled. She looked ready to argue with this man but he looked down at her now, "After this floor we'll start speeding up the time between boss battles, so don't get left behind or you won't be participating in the next one."

This time many of the players clapped and agreed with the plan. Even Asuna conceded and nodded at the man who removed his hand and started walking away.

As the group dispersed, the orange haired girl felt someone watching her and looked to the edge of the group where she saw a boy standing in a black cloak. He gave her a small wave and she smiled, walking over to him. "Hey Asuna," he whispered and she greeted him back.

"You going to help out in the boss raid again?" she asked.

He nodded and then looked over to a different part of the center where the tall white man was talking to a few others with a serious look on his face. "Who is that? He seems good," the man did seem to hold an impressive aura around him.

She smirked and looked back towards the man as well, "His name's Heathcliff. I think he was a beta-tester although I didn't ask. We've partied a few times over the last couple of days. Weird thing is he barely ever gets hit by mobs, and when he does, he barely takes any damage."

_That is weird, he must be really strong,_ Kirito wasn't getting hit by too many normal monsters either, but in dungeons it wasn't like he was just skating his way through them. The game was difficult even for someone as high of a level as him.

"You want to go get something to eat?" he offered and she nodded. The two of them went and grabbed some food at the nearby restaurant where they ate in almost silence. A gunshot went off and Kirito kept eating calmly, taking a sip of his water as many of the other people in the room ran outside or started talking frantically.

Asuna was looking out the window but as she looked back over to Kirito, she saw the boy eating as if nothing was bothering him. "You didn't even bother checking who it was?" she asked him incredulously and he just shrugged, continuing to eat his food.

_You're sitting right in front of me, so it's probably no one I know... or care about._ He looked up from his food with a blank expression and she got angry at him. "You're cold Kirito, I thought all that stuff you said in the boss room was just to help out beta testers, but now I see that you really do think you're better than everyone else." She stood up, now pissed, and made for the door.

Before she got a step away, she felt her wrist get grabbed and she turned back in surprise to the table where Kirito was still looking down at his plate. "Be careful Asuna," instantly she softened her expression and as soon as she did, the pressure around her wrist faded and Kirito let go. He stood up and pressed some buttons on his interface to pay the bill. With that he turned and walked right past the girl and out of the restaurant.

She snapped out of her confusion and shook her head, _what was that all about?_ She pulled up the payment screen to pay for her meal but when she looked for the bill, she found that hers had been paid for as well. She spun her head to face the exit but Kirito was long gone and she couldn't even thank him for the good meal.

The black-haired boy went his own way and left the town, deciding to head for one more village before they leave the second floor in a few days. _Hydrick,_ he almost scowled at the thought, remembering the player killing that went on in the town before the patch during the beta version. He'd lost a lot just being there when the chaos erupted. The graveyard was in the center of town, so even after players respawned, they couldn't get back out and kept getting killed over and over. _At least we weren't dying for real back then._ He couldn't really think of anything in the beta as worse than what was going on now, so instead he just went and took on some quests in the mainly empty town.

On the specified date, Kirito met with the other clearers back in the central second floor town where they watched Heathcliff give a small speech to the gathered fighters. They all cheered and drew their weapons before making the long trek to the boss room. Kirito was by himself, and as he looked around he saw that Asuna was standing next to the raid leader and another man with a red scruffy goatee.

_I don't see Agil, guess he wasn't able to level up enough to join in for this one. Or Klein,_ he sighed, hoping he would see someone else that he knew but wound up just heading in solo again. It wasn't the first time he played by himself and he was used to it by now, but he still enjoyed company where he could find it.

"Hey beater," a man sneered from behind him as they marched. Kirito twitched but didn't turn around to face the speaker, "hey, you want to join our party?" The boy looked around part of the way while still walking but as he turned he saw six men who reminded him of rats, they were all snickering and laughing at him. "Oops, we already have six, sorry."

"Why don't you just off yourself and save us all the trouble of finishing you off later. It would really help us out," another of the men scoffed. Kirito could see that a few of the parties around the men could hear what they were saying, but as he expected, none of them came to his aid and he just turned back with a sigh and moved closer to the front where he could avoid the rat-like men.

_Wonder what Kibaou has been saying about me, no wait, I don't care,_ he shook his head and kept walking, hand always on the hilt of his sword. His arm was bent over his shoulder for only a little longer before they reached a large door. Heathcliff gave one more small speech and then he and Asuna pushed the doors in.

Almost an hour later, the boss was finally beaten and Kirito collapsed to the ground, panting like many of the others around him. They didn't have the energy or strength to celebrate just yet, and a celebration would've been uncalled for considering the four fighters who were killed by the axe-wielding boss.

The one who finished the monster off turned out to be Asuna after Kirito had wound up knocking it off guard. As it stumbled back she stabbed her sword three times into the monster's stomach at a lightning pace and it exploded. She may have gotten the bonus, but the best reward didn't go to her.

As Kirito and many of the others watched, Heathcliff walked straight up to the wall on the far right and pressed his hand against it. The boy suddenly realized what he was doing and turned on his scanner. When he did his eyes lit up as he saw something that must never had been found during the original beta test, _what is that?_ The man pressed harder and the wall pushed in a bit, a small square indent moving aside and revealing a notice for him. The man in the white jacket took the notice and it vanished.

"What was..." Asuna started but as she did, the man equipped the item into his left hand. He had a muscular figure, but he made it look as if the enormous white shield weighed nothing to him. It had a red cross in the center of it and the man admired his new shield, never once smiling, only nodding as he seemed to be testing it out.

_How did he know that was there?_ Some other people thought the same thing and started whispering that he must have been a beta-tester. Ignoring them all, Heathcliff stood up and walked towards the stairs to the next floor.

Kirito stood as well, having gained back his health and he cracked his head to either side. _Time for floor three,_ he smirked and walked forwards. Most of the others turned and headed back to the second floor to tell of the good news, but Kirito wanted to get up to floor three fast and admire the landscape before it became tainted with hundreds of people.

When he arrived at the top of the stairs, he saw the man with the shield walking slowly down the hill towards the water in front of him. Right outside the exit, Asuna was standing with an amazed look as she gazed around the water covered map. There were islands all over, some much larger than others, and she could see bright lights of cities from where they were as the sun started to set on the horizon. "Whoa, it's so beautiful."

She looked back at Kirito who was smiling and staring around the map until they heard a gunshot, followed by three more. Before Asuna looked up, she saw Kirito's face distort. He was still smiling, but it wasn't the same genuine one he had a second before, this time it looked forced and his bangs covered his eyes as he began walking down the hill as well.

"Kirito," she whispered and then looked up at the sky, paying her respects to the four fighters who died clearing the last boss room. She looked back down but Kirito was gone, the hill empty around her except for the low level mobs that would keep newbs from getting up there without a teleportation crystal. _Don't die Kirito._

The black-haired boy spent the next few days on level three, training up on his own. He'd get as strong as he could in one spot and then move on to the next dungeon. Only five days after the second floor boss was defeated, the third boss fight was underway.

Only those fighters strong enough to stay on level three and strengthen themselves for the majority of the week were taking part and it was the smallest group they had fighting a boss yet. Many of the people who had cleared the first floor were still getting stronger on the second and were being left behind by the lead group.

As Kirito followed the group of about thirty players towards the boss room, he saw Asuna walking with Heathcliff and the man with the scruffy beard, who he learned was named Godfree. The three of them were all wearing white cloaks that seemed customized by a store to match, _looks like she joined a good party. Good for her,_ he looked ahead and prepared himself for the upcoming battle.

"Hey Kirito!" he turned his head to the left and saw a man in red wearing a bandana pushing between two larger men to get over to him.

"Klein," he said, a small smile spreading across his face. "Finally made it to the front I see," he looked behind the man where a few others were watching them.

The older man seemed to notice where Kirito was looking and casted a glance back. He grinned, "Oh, those are the friends I was talking about back in the Town of Beginnings. You want to come over and meet them?" Kirito looked up at the man and shook his head. Klein didn't understand but he didn't want to push the subject and accepted it.

"Good luck in the boss fight Klein, stay safe and protect your friends," Kirito advised.

"Yeah you too," the man said, patting the younger boy on the back. "I'm thinking about starting a guild with them. Message me if you ever want to join alright?" Kirito looked at him and nodded, though neither of them thought that he would ever take Klein up on his offer.

In a few more minutes they reached the boss battle and Klein was the one to slay the boss with a final blow from his katana. He got a lot of congratulations from other players after receiving his bonus item but when he looked around for Kirito he saw the younger kid walking up the stairs to the next floor.

_Great job Klein,_ he didn't want to waste any time, they needed to get out of the game. _Every day the death toll rises. Thousands are dead already, how many more have to die because we weren't fast enough?_

The fourteen year old boy started gaining levels faster as he smashed through the floors with general ease. He always kept a safety net with the monsters he fought so that he wouldn't be overwhelmed.

One day on the seventh floor, Kirito was battling four decently good monsters at the same time when he heard a barrage of gunfire and his jaw dropped. The number of shots continued as ten, twenty, thirty people died and their pictures appeared in the sky. The kid activated his sword skill and smashed through three of the monsters before spinning and cutting the last rock troll's head clean off. _What happened?!_ he looked up at the sky and saw they all had a small symbol on the bottom left of their pictures.

He instantly recognized the purple skull guild mark from the last time he was in the start town. _The Enders, what did they do?_ The group had been running around preaching that the game wasn't real, that it was all a lie and all they had to do was die and they would escape. Not many people believed the crazy guild members, but enough must have joined for them to finally carry out their idea. _Did they really let themselves die!? What if they were right... they weren't,_ he looked down and kept moving forwards, letting the faces floating above his head fade without another look.

That night the clearers finished clearing out floor seven and something big happened. A huge number of the clearers had a party afterwards and during the party, an idea floated around to start up a guild of only clearers. Kirito watched as Asuna, Heithcliff, and the three others wearing white and red walked away from the rest of the group during that conversation and he maintained his distance as well.

"I don't really know too many of you guys that well," Klein didn't seem too sure about joining up with them and wanted to just keep the party going.

The other members weren't going to drop the subject though and started ranting about how great their guild would be compared to all others because of its strength. This got more than half of the clearers cheering and signing up for the new alliance they called the Divine Dragon Alliance.

The boy laughed as he saw someone try to get Klein to sign up and he man shook his head. "I'm starting my own guild, sorry," this made the person trying to get him to sign up very angry. Quickly after that the party ended and the clearers all went their separate ways.

_Well that party stunk._ Kirito thought as he walked to the inn. He'd been trapped inside the game for over two months already and they weren't even in the double digits yet. Yes they were making progress, and every time they attacked a boss the players were more advanced so no one had died since the fourth floor boss, but Kirito knew that the death toll would continue to rise unless they got out of there. People were still dying on floor one: those who got tired of waiting forever and tried to make it on their own. _I am supposed to clear this game, but how many will even be left when I do?_

Kirito sighed and continued to train now on level eight. Time started to fly by as he would stay on a floor for a couple days and then defeat the boss with the help of the Divine Dragon Alliance, Asuna's group, and Klein's new alliance the Fuurinkazan. There were a few other solo players that just joined up in parties, but most clearers had joined guilds by floor twelve.

More and more people joined the boss fights on each floor and by the end of January, they had over a hundred players helping them fight the level twenty boss. The huge red rabbit with big blue eyes chomped down on a fighter's leg with its razor sharp teeth. Instantly, two healers went to work giving the woman potions while five others charged forwards and knocked Mr. Fluffers the Bunny King backwards.

"These bosses seem to just be getting easier and easier, eh Kirito," Klein called over to his friend as the shorter kid ran and knocked back the Bunny again as it swung its right fist.

"Switch," he called out and Asuna ran from behind him and struck the beast six times before Kirito swung forwards again and slashed it twice across the chest. Each player dropped to either side of the red rabbit as it froze in place, cuts markin its entire body. Finally it dropped and incinerated into a bunch of blue particles.

Asuna turned to Kirito and flashed a small smile that he returned before Klein and his friends ran up to him. "That was so cool," the pudgy one in front said as Klein put the kid in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

"I taught him everything he knows," the red haired samurai said proudly.

Kirito grabbed his hand and twisted the man's wrist, "Isn't it the other way around?"

"Ouch ouch, yeah yeah yeah," the other guild members who were reaching for their swords realized that it was a joke and started laughing at the look on their leader's face as Klein was released and started blowing on his hurt wrist.

_Things are going smoothly. Akihiko Kayaba, we will beat this game._

When the group reached the twenty-fourth floor, they had a hundred and twenty members with them. The "assault group," as many on the lower floors had begun to call them, was clearing boss rooms at an average of more than two a week and people on the floors below gained hope. During the battle they didn't lose a single fighter and they defeated the centipede-like monster in the short time of about ten minutes.

"That was almost too easy," Godfree stated as he kept his sword raised, looking around for another boss to appear. Instead they saw the Congratulations icon fall in front of them and many scratched their heads in confusion.

Asuna looked at her friend and then to the leader of their now six man party. A few others had wanted to join up with them because they were so powerful, but as of yet they had not started a guild. Heathcliff looked down at her and frowned, "Too easy?" he asked and then looked around the room, "Or, is it just that we've become so much stronger recently that even boss fights are starting to become routine things we'll be able to pass with ease?"

The room thundered in applause as a group larger than it had ever been cheered. Kirito even smiled and looked around, there were people in the room that weren't even half of his level, but everyone was trying their hardest to contribute what they had. _Yeah!_ He walked over to the Fuurinkazan and started talking to Klein and his friends.

The other guys were surprised since they usually had to initiate conversation with Kirito to get the kid to socialize with them, but now he seemed much more open, even happy. "Let's go," Klein started yelling, "to the twenty-fifth floor!"

"YEAH!" the room screamed out in response and they all charged the staircase. Kirito enjoyed having this huge group, sure sometimes they got into minor conflicts with people hating on beta-testers, and guild arguments, but even those problems were resolved simply.

In the first month, when two thousand people had already died, over three hundred of those were beta testers. It showed people that they were no different from the rest, they were just as vulnerable. As for the guilds, DDA was the largest and quickest growing of any out there, they accepted most of the clearers who wanted to join as long as they were a high enough level, and they didn't get in minor squabbles with the smaller guilds because they were so much more powerful.

It was know throughout Aincrad that the Divine Dragon Alliance was leading the charge through the towers and even though they would sometimes be selfish when it came to helping out other members of the Assault Group, they were considered heroes to the thousands below.

Only a day after clearing the twenty-fifth floor, Kirito saw a message appear in front of his face telling him to meet at Gilgamesh for the boss meeting. _Here we go, Sugu I'm coming home, I'm getting out of here._

The town was packed with people, there must have been over a thousand people who teleported to the new floor and appeared in Gilgamesh. They all seemed amazed by the clearers as they filed into a Colosseum-like building and walked into the center. Hundreds of people went into the stands and watched in near silence as the leader of DDA and Heathcliff went over the strategy for the next boss fight.

Ester, the Divine Dragon leader seemed laid back about the upcoming raid and kept saying inspiring things about how quickly they were moving that got cheers out of the thousand people watching him. Many of the Assault Group were clapping as well and Kirito looked around, noticing that there seemed to be twenty more people than the last floor. He looked at one of them closely and examined their weapons and gear, _It looks like he came straight from floor fourteen. He won't even be any help to us,_ he thought about walking over and telling the kid that looked to be around his age to get lost, but he grinned and just looked back at the raid leaders. _There's nothing to worry about, we'll get through this just like the other floors, the more help the better right?_

Up next to the front of the group, Asuna looked over the crowd and saw Agil and Kirito. She was happy that the large man had come and started fighting with them again, however he had a shop on one of the lower floors and wasn't leveling up as fast as they were. Either way, he was still helping out a lot. "That ends the meeting, let's move out!" Ester shouted and the stadium roared with applause as the clearers started strapping on their gear and heading for the exit.

As the giant group marched towards the battle, Kirito noticed a few strange things. First was that the mobs spawning around the road were attracted to them unlike the times they usually headed to battle, _probably because of the lower level players we have with us,_ he thought as he one-shot one of the attacking birds. The second strange thing he realized was that many of the members who weren't part of the DDA, were part of the Army, the guild that first took control of the Town of Beginnings and was helping the people there out.

_Usually they go to floors and train to better protect the people in their city, why have so many joined with us lately._ He noticed more and more joining since they hit floor twenty, but most of the twenty new additions they had to their group were adorned in Army guild gear. It wasn't that he disliked the group, in fact he felt they were necessary in keeping the peace on the lower floors, but they had so many decent fighters in the boss fights now that weren't really able to do much without a stronger member helping.

He jumped as he felt someone grab his right arm and he turned, seeing Asuna looking at him with a serious look. "Are you ready for this battle?" For some reason, she was acting strange and Kirito could sense it.

"Yeah, of course, what's up?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"I don't know, but Heathcliff is worried about all these players following us," _sounds like Diabel,_ Kirito thought as she continued, "we need to make sure to keep up the streak of no one dying."

"Floor sixteen will be the last floor we lose a player to a boss fight," he said and she nodded in agreement. Two more floors and they will have made it ten floors without losing a single player from the Assault team. They continued walking until they reached the dungeon and went in.

The group leading the pack was made up of Heathcliff's party, and Ester's party, but even still, the fighters were having a hard time getting past the regular monsters to head towards the boss door in the distance. Asuna's party leader had a sword skill called Divine Blade: Heathcliff was able to maximize his defense or his offense at any time. His hits were the only ones that were able to one-shot enemies and as one flanked the group, even Kirito found himself having to put actual effort into defeating the monster.

Soon the army of players reached the door and they took a few minutes to rest. They had cleared the dungeon in a longer amount of time than they had planned and Ester shouted once everyone was healed up, "It's time to attack this boss and then get back to Gilgamesh. I hear they're throwing a huge party for us tonight once we get a quarter of the way through this game."

"Woohoo!"

"Yeah!"

"We'll be heroes," Kirito turned and saw the kid he saw before that looked like he was just out of floor fourteen. He gave the kid a weak smile and the blonde kid smiled back at him.

"Alright, here we go," Ester grinned to Heathcliff who looked at him emotionlessly in response and they started to push the doors open. "You need to enjoy this game more man, we're the ones getting all the glory."

The man dressed in white and red didn't respond and walked into the room instead. As the other players walked in, they all looked around amazed.

"This is what a boss room looks like?" the kid behind Kirito asked.

He turned and faced him, "No, this room is unique." He looked back around and stared at the grass and trees all over the humongous room. The forest around them seemed dark and mysterious but as Kirito wondered where the boss was, the door closed behind them.

Suddenly, the ceiling turned red and seemed to radiate red light which tinted everything in the room the same color. The people started looking around in panic as they saw the trees start moving. In front of them, what they had thought was a hill, started to raise up in the air as dirt and grass followed it up. Two circles appeared on the front of the hill and they were white with black dots in the middle.

"Is that the boss!?" someone shouted as they saw the eyes focus towards the group in front of them.

"Don't falter," Ester shouted as he saw some of his fellow guild members wavering and taking steps back. "We have trained for this, we can..." before he could finish his sentence, a root came out of the ground and wrapped itself around his leg. "Ah, Ah AHHH!" he screamed as he was pulled to the ground and dragged towards the hill.

Some of the others started running towards him but the trees all around started uprooting themselves and moving in on the Assault Group. One of them swung a branch and a man parried it, allowing three others to charge in and attack it, their usual strategy. However, after that tree vanished, two others were already moving in and attacked the three who took down the other ent. Every tree around them was starting to move and Kirito realized they were all ents, "Everyone retreat!" he shouted as he saw the three members of the group scream and explode into a bunch of blue shards.

"No!" he heard a voice shout and he looked to where Ester was being dragged away. The man shoved his sword into the root and sliced it off, right as he got in front of the hill. He flipped and landed on top of the hill monster, stabbing down on top of it using a sword skill that made his sword glow yellow. The beast lost a good deal of health from its first bar and made a few of the others in the room gain hope. "We can win," the man shouted to them. That hope was squashed as three more vines extended from under the man's sword. Two of them grabbed his arms and pulled them to either side as the third plucked the sword out from atop its head.

"Leader!" Kirito saw one of the DDA officers try to climb the hill but the monster shook him off and he flew back towards the rest of the group, slamming into a few others. Ester shouted in pure horror as the hill used its vine to maneuver his own sword straight into his chest. With that attack, the man slowly dropped as the rest of the room was in silence, and then he exploded into a million blue shards before vanishing, forever.

Even the trees on all sides seemed to stop moving as Ester disappeared, dead in this world, and the real one. "Ahh!" everyone turned to find the source of the voice but it was just a kid holding up one of the teleportation crystals. "It's not working!" he screamed, shouting out the name of every town he knew, hoping that one of them would get him to reappear there.

The trees started going on the attack again and started smashing players that were trying to teleport out. Heathcliff finally shouted over all their screams, "It must be a teleport cancelling area, there's no way out of here except for defeating the boss."

A vine was coming up right behind the man but he spun at the right time and lifted his shield. As the attack bounced off, Godfree swooped in and sliced the end of the vine off and Asuna charged the monster, stabbing it at the source of that vine causing it to roar and shoot out two more vines that knocked her backwards.

"Asuna!" Kirito yelled as he defeated another tree that was about to kill one of the weaker players in the room. He started running but the hill had the girl wrapped in one branch around her body while the other vine tightened around her throat.

Before he could get there, a red streak crossed the vine and he heard someone shout, "Iai!" The vines were slashed and fell limp next to Asuna as she coughed on her hands and knees.

_Klein,_ he saw the red-haired man look up and charge over to his friends who were battling the trees on the outskirts. _The Fuurinkazan can take care of themselves, I need to defeat this boss before more people are killed._ He quickly realized that that was easier said than done. Agil charged forwards with his axe and slammed it into the hill's front, but he barely dug into the grass and dirt exterior, giving the monster limited damage. _It's too strong,_ Kirito thought as the monster struck the black man, sending him flying.

The healers in the back were having a hard time. Usually they had members protecting the healers while they got anyone who retreated to them, but the trees were almost as numerous as their own numbers and kept the bodyguards occupied while the healers were trying to help as many people as they could.

Asuna finally felt her health get back to full and thanked the woman who had her empty potion bottle in her hands and threw it to the ground. The healers weren't fighters, they were given different strength potions and would give them to players who needed them based on how serious their conditions were. It seemed like an unnecessary job during many of the previous battles as players had been able to give themselves potions, but players were running out fast as the trees continued to batter them endlessly.

She started to run out towards one of the trees that was beating on two Army members when she heard a shriek and turned back around. Her eyes went wide as she saw the scene in front of her. Two of the bodyguards had fallen at the same time and a group of five ents pushed past them, storming the area where the healers were. "Kirito!" she shouted as she ran back towards the area.

Agil was almost at full health when the ents broke through and he was protecting the guy who had been healing him, but his health was back down to the yellow. Just as he thought it was going to be all over, a black cloak flashed in front of his eyes and the tree was knocked back by a soaring Kirito. The boy landed and he and Asuna beat back the other four ents until they were away from what remained of the healing group.

"Go head back to the main boss," Kirito shouted at her after the last of the five ents had fallen. She didn't need to be told twice and ran over to the mess of vines where the hill monster had lost two of its four health bars and she started to help out the fellow clearers.

Unlike the precision and orderly attacks they had during the previous boss fights, Kirito looked around and saw madness. Players continued to drop by the second and he saw a young boy curled up in a ball on the floor far in front of him, "Get away!" he shouted at the kid but the boy was crying and had his head ducked to his chest so he didn't see the root ripping through the ground towards him.

Kirito tried to sprint to the kid but he was too far away and the root wrapped around the kid's foot, dragging him across the floor towards the hill. All of a sudden the hill shook and grew larger before the dirt around the base of the monster started falling away leaving a gaping black hole in the center. As quick as lightning, dozens of razor sharp white teeth shot down from the top and bottom of the hole and they all realized it was the monster's mouth.

"Somebody help me!" the kid screamed as he was dragged towards the monster. Asuna and Godfree went with two DDA members to attack the root at its source but the monster shook the ground and the elevation of the floor below them raised up and then dropped fast, making the four fighters drop down to the ground where they lay dazed for a few seconds.

_I'm going to make it,_ Kirito sped towards the kid and felt he was gaining on him, but the boy sped up and the fourteen year old couldn't catch him before the root swung the boy by the ankle and threw him into its own mouth. It clamped down with its teeth and they all heard a bloodcurdling scream echo out in the air.

As the blonde boy screamed, the rest of the room started to be filled with similar cries for help and screams of terror as people were ripped apart by the ents. "Keep pushing!" they all turned to Heathcliff who was facing the monster alone at the moment. "It only has one bar left, if it's defeated, the ents behind us will vanish as well!" The stronger players who heard this nodded and started charging at the hill beast.

The boss started lifting up the terrain at certain area and making the ground wash over players as if the dirt and grass were waves. Kirito charged forwards and sliced through a vine that had wrapped around one of Asuna's party members whom he didn't know his name. The man repaid the favor by jumping up and catching Kirito after a ground shift sent him flying through the air.

"It's almost down!" Agil shouted as he charged towards it and slammed his axe into the monster's open left eye. It roared in pain as all the fighters remaining charged their sword skills and attacked simultaneously. It was one final push and they saw it pay off as the health bar above the monster's head dropped to zero. The hill started to tremble as all the ents attacking the surrounding players froze. With one final, unusually high-pitched yelp, the hill exploded and the rest of the trees started to disintegrate and the blue particles all joined each other in the air.

The whole room remained silent except for the loud panting of the exhausted troops. They'd been fighting the monster for close to forty minutes, longer than any they'd fought since the second floor. Yet, even back then, the battle hadn't been anywhere near this devastating.

Finally someone began making noise, but it didn't make them feel any better as a twenty five year old woman fell to her knees and began to sob. Her sobs turned to wails as she screamed at the ceiling in anger. Many of the others dropped to the floor, either lying on their backs or on their knees with heads bowed or pulled into their stomachs as they sobbed.

Kirito looked around himself in shock, for the first time realizing how bad the battle really was. When he was fighting he always seemed to switch into a different mode and the weight of what was happening didn't hit him, it just built up until now. Suddenly he felt it hit him all at once now that the room was empty.

They had a hundred and forty members with them trying to clear the room, the largest number they'd ever had. Within forty minutes their numbers were reduced to almost fifty, lower than they'd had since floor nine. The fifteen that were fighting the boss at the end of the battle looked around the room if they still managed to stay on their feet. The huge laughing army they were with on the outside of the doors had been reduced to a pathetic group less than half the size, most of whom were lying on the ground with tears flowing from their faces.

The officer of the Divine Dragon Alliance was the first one to act, with Ester gone, as well as every other officer except for one, he took charge and became the leader of the guild. The crown symbol appeared next to the guild symbol near his health bar that was far in the red. He walked over and gathered the members of his guild that remained and had a small meeting with them.

Heathcliff looked around and saw that two of his party members were down. He, Godfree, Asuna, and the member who'd helped out Kirito during the battle started talking with each other about what their plan would be. The fourteen year old boy looked around the room at everyone grieving and saw Agil with an arm around Klein who was crying along with three of his guild members. He didn't see two of the others that Klein had joined the game with and understood immediately why the man was crying.

_This is insane, how can we possibly beat all hundred floors!_ Kirito fell to his knees and sheathed his sword on his back. The boy put his fists on the ground and began slamming them down as hard as he could. Cracks appeared on the floor under his fists as he punched the ground and he yelled up at the ceiling, "RAAHH!"

The grieving lasted for a little longer before the man in charge of the DDA stood up and cleared his throat loudly, trying to gain the attention of those still left in the room. "We've decided," the man started and then looked around nervously, "that this should be the last boss fight we attempt for a while. W-We need to get much stronger before we even attempt the twenty-sixth floor boss." With that he turned to his men and signaled for them to teleport away.

Kirito saw no sign of any Army members still alive before but now he saw three of them shout out, "Town of Beginnings," and disappear as well.

The kid realized that the room was thinning out and he couldn't attempt the next floor without heading back to Gilgamesh to get more potions. He held out his crystal and teleported back at the same time as Asuna and Klein's groups.

When he appeared he realized that the Divine Dragon Alliance was still standing around the center of the town where the teleportation took them. More fighters kept surrounding them and they all stared with open mouths at the hundreds of people in front of them, clapping and cheering for them.

_What are they, oh yeah,_ he looked up at the sky as did many of the other fighters and as the blue lights stopped appearing, the people in the square became confused at why so few people had returned. The cheering and clapping stopped as a gunshot sounded and everyone in Gilgamesh looked up at the sky. The clearers tried to hold back tears and stared at the sky with serious faces as a picture appeared.

The image was of a person that the entire city knew of and had listened to give a huge speech in the stadium earlier that day. Ester's photo remained in the sky and moved to the side as another picture appeared. More gunshots sounded, they came every five seconds exactly as everyone surrounding the square looked up at the sky with horrified expressions.

_Finkley Trio, Yupi Ono, Niobe Fiowaka,_ Kirito read out each of their names in his mind as they appeared and moved across the sky to make room for another photo. Soon pictures were filling up the entire sky, more than he'd seen at one time since the two hundred plus on the first day.

Kirito looked to his left as a man in a red samurai costume appeared in the sky. The remaining Fuurinkazan stared up at the sky holding back tears as another one of their friends appeared next to the first. Klein's face was filled with more sadness than Kirito had ever seen him. He looked ahead of him as Asuna flinched, seeing one of the members of her party appear in the sky, one she had been partied with for over ten floors.

_This was horrible, no one is going to want to attack a boss for a long time, and I can understand why they wouldn't. I... I want to get out of here, but if it's at the cost of the lives we're trying to save, it's not worth it._ He started walking away from the rest of the boss clearing group as the eightieth person appeared in the sky. They watched him as he walked through the parting civilians and he disappeared in the streets of Gilgamesh. The rest of them stayed for the few remaining dead players to be shown in the sky before dispersing in separate directions as well.

Kirito lay back on his bed in the inn, his eyes open and staring straight at the ceiling. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the little blonde boy or someone else who was slaughtered during the battle. He didn't know any of them too well, but he was still saddened by their deaths and he rolled onto his side. Suddenly a message appeared in front of him and he reached out his arm, slapping at it and it opened.

'Twenty-sixth floor boss clearing meeting tomorrow morning in the big stadium. Eight a.m. on the dot.' The message ended there and came from Asuna. _They're already planning the next attack! _He couldn't believe what he just read and went over it a million times in his head before he came up with a hypothesis and lay still, thinking about what it could mean.

The next morning he was a half an hour early to the meeting. There was no chance of him getting any sleep the night before so he stood, leaning against the outer wall of the stadium. The floor of the Colloseum-like building was made of sand and he dug his feet into it to keep him occupied, slowly burying himself until the meeting started. People were scattered all around the area; members who had lost their entire parties or small guilds, a few people who were solos, Klein and his three friends were standing in the center of the arena, waiting for the bastards who called them there so soon.

The Divine Dragons were nowhere to be seen, and no one probably even invited the Army to come. Finally, at exactly eight o'clock, four people walked in from one of the wall entrances and made their way to the middle of the field. They had been wearing similar outfits before, but now...

Heathcliff walked in front of the other three members who were all adorned in white cloaks with plate spaulders on their shoulders. They had red markings around the edges of their clothes, but their leader was wearing a lot more red with his bright red armor that covered his entire body except for his head. He walked straight to the center of the arena and Klein moved to the side, feeling unnerved by the man's imposing figure.

"Our guild, the Knights of the Blood Oath," Kirito looked surprised as the words left Heathcliff's mouth. The man had showed little intention of starting a guild before, but now it seemed the remaining members of his party were all full members of his new guild, "will be taking charge of the clearing of the next boss room."

"Are you crazy?!" One of the members on the outskirts of the stadium shouted. His eyes were filled with rage and Kirito remembered seeing the man's party get slaughtered during the battle. "We can't even think about going back yet."

"We know," Godfree said trying to calm the man down.

"Which is why we're waiting," Asuna stated and everyone looked at her and then back at Heathcliff who cleared his throat.

"The next boss attack won't occur, for another forty days." Kirito's mouth opened a little at that declaration. He wanted to object but as he looked around, he seemed to be the only one. _Agil's not here, he would side with me,_ he looked to Klein but the man nodded and looked at his friends with a small smile. "We _all_ need to get stronger before we try to take on another boss. I know that everyone wants to get out of this game as soon as they can, but we're not getting out if we rush in again like yesterday's mistake."

"But forty days?" Kirito asked, speaking up for the first time since the meeting started. Everyone turned towards him as he walked closer to the new guild leader, "I'm sure we can all get a lot stronger in the next week, or even two if people need more time..."

Asuna was the one who cut him off this time by walking towards him and glaring straight into his eyes. "Just stop Kirito, stop and slow down. I know you don't want to accept it, but we're going to be in here for more than a few months," the boy's face dropped and he knew exactly what she was talking about. It was always a doubt in his mind, that they wouldn't be able to keep the pace they were at, "We're going to be here for a year, or two, or longer," she faded out as she thought about what she was saying.

"The most important thing," Heathcliff started up again so that everyone would remain focused, "is that we all stay safe. Getting out of here quickly is a priority, but getting out safely is much more important." With that the meeting was adjourned and the members of the clearing team who had spent so much time preparing for and fighting bosses, suddenly realized they had a lot of time before they would be needed again.

Kirito left the meeting and restocked on supplies. He had only stayed on the twenty-fifth floor for a short time before the boss fight and now he planned to go exploring around the uncharted floor. He needed more experience before he jumped right in to the twenty-sixth floor on his own.

Soon after leaving Gilgamesh and entering a dungeon, the boy realized he wasn't prepared for it and teleported back. _'Slow down,' Asuna was right. I barely spent enough time on each of the last ten floors to prepare me for these high level battles._ With that in mind he teleported back to the sixteenth floor and looked for a dungeon. He had a lot of time before he would be able to start clearing the game again.

_I'm sorry Diabel,_ he thought as he slashed through some low level mobs in the dungeon. _Wait a little longer, we will clear this game. Sugu, I'm sorry, but I won't be back for a long time._ A tear came to his eye as he remembered something and charged towards the dungeon boss who was curling his fingers, motioning for Kirito to attack him if he dared. The boy screamed in fury as he sprinted forwards with his sword raised, _happy birthday Sugu._ He cut through the boss and then flipped backwards anticipating its next attack. He flew right over the spiky gray hand that swiped where he was standing seconds before and came down hard with his sword on top of the monster's head.

**A/n Thanks for reading, leave a review below and tell me what you think. Hope you enjoyed.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

**April 7, 2023.**

Kirito was walking around floor sixteen, checking out some of the lower level quests that he skipped on his first time going through and handing them in a short time after. His level had greatly increased since the twenty-fifth floor raid and he had raised himself all the way to level forty already.

As he walked down the dark road to one of the other villages, he heard a loud scream coming from the forest on his right. The boy turned his head that direction and his vision turned green, scanning the forest in front of him. He saw through the trees and into a small clearing where five people were fighting a group of tree ents similar to the ones he had to fight during the boss battle.

He sprinted off the path and between the trees, hoping he would make it in time.

"Ducker, help Tetsuo!" Keita shouted and the kid in the yellow cloak and gray beanie sprinted over to his friend. He jumped up and kicked the tree ent who was attacking their tank, Tetsuo the mace weilder. His kid had little effect of the tree which simply waved a branch and batted Ducker back to the floor.

"Sasamaru," the short black-haired girl whimpered as she tried to hold off an attack from one of the three trees with her sword. It finally pushed her back and knocked the sword from her hands. The spear user turned to the girl and saw the tree rearing up, coming down to slam on her.

"Sachi!" The boy yelled but his voice got caught in his throat as the tree exploded into blue fragments.

The leader of the party watched as the tree bearing down on Tetsuo and Ducker exploded too. Then he saw a flash of a blur as someone ran from that ent to the last one and flipped up into the air, his sword glowing red as he did. "Whoa," Keita muttered, his mouth twisting into a smile as he watched the black cloaked figure slice the tree in half vertically so that it vanished as well.

The area was quiet for a few seconds as Kirito looked around, making sure everyone was ok. "That, was, AWESOME!" the short kid in the gray hat shouted and ran over to Kirito who scratched the back of his head and smiled at him. "I'm Ducker. Thanks a lot for saving us."

"It was really no problem," Kirito responded, panting a little as he had used a lot of speed to make it all the way from the road to there in such a short time.

"No, this deserves our thanks. The Moonlit Black Cats invite you to a party to thank you," Kirito looked like he was going to decline but the man clasped a hand around his shoulder, "we won't take no for an answer, let's go!"

Keita and the others told Kirito their names and he gave them his before they told him where they were going and asked him to come. They all shouted out, "Taft," while holding up their crystals and disappeared in blue lights. The fifteen year old looked around at the large town on floor eleven and smiled. _I always liked this place._

"So what were you guys doing up there?" Kirito asked, wondering how they got caught fighting such strong mobs on floor sixteen. "You could have gotten killed."

"Well it's a good thing you were there to help us then," the tall spearman with green eyes, Sasamaru, said with a grin.

"We're trying to become a stronger guild," Keita explained as he stepped into the inn. "But enough about that, time to have some fun," he signalled to the innkeeper who seemed to recognize them and she walked over with a tray full of drinks.

"Here's to us, the Moonlit Black Cats," Ducker called out and the others all raised their glasses. "Cheers!" Then he turned to Kirito and the others did as well as he stood at the head of the table, "And here's to Kirito, the man who saved our lives! Cheers!" they all shouted again.

"Ch-cheers," Kirito said, a sweat drop dripping down his face.

"Thanks."

"You saved us."

_They all seem really nice,_ Kirito thought as he took a sip of his beverage. "It was nothing,"

"I was really scared," the little girl named Sachi said to him. She was the one he was most worried about during the battle as her health was almost at zero and if he had gotten there a second later... he didn't want to think about what would have happened. "So when you came to save me it made me so happy."

"S-sure," they were all being really kind to him. Usually on the upper floors, more people knew who he was and that he was a beater so they stayed farther away from him.

These people didn't know however and the leader showed he didn't by leaning in and whispering, "I know this is rude to ask, but about what level are you?"

Kirito thought about it for a few seconds, _if I tell them I'm too high, they might treat me differently than they are. Guessing by their skills and gear, I'd say they're in their high teens, mostly._ "Level twenty or so," he lied, actually double that number.

"Ohh, you're not that much higher than we are. I'm surprised, by the way you fought I thought you were probably a Knight of the Blood Oath or a Divine Dragon. Yet you're a solo player!" Kirito explained why he was able to get so high even though he was a solo. "In that case Kirito, sorry to spring this on you all of a sudden, but how about joining our guild?"

Kirito listened as he explained some information about their guild and how they all knew each other from a computer research club in real life. _So that's why they all seem so close,_ he thought but the man assured him that he'd fit in anyway. _The boss battles are starting up again, but I can go train at night and still do the raids, I'll just stay with these guys during the day. _"Well, in that case, I guess I will join you. Glad to work with you."

"Cool," Ducker said running over and high-fiving their new member.

The crew began introducing themselves again and Kirito felt happy that they were welcoming him with such open arms. That night, they all got separate rooms in the inn, and when he thought they were all asleep, he headed back out and teleported up to floor twenty-seven.

Tonight was the night of the second boss fight since they started attacking again. A week before, Heathcliff had led a raid on the twenty-sixth floor. It was completely successful despite there only being twenty six members of the raid group. Kirito had found himself surrounded by either elite members of the KoBO, or the DDA who proclaimed themselves as the Knight's rivals. There were two or three other solo players there as well but the other two guilds were the only ones.

This time he looked around again for Klein's guild but they were nowhere in sight. He hoped that he didn't miss the gunshots if his friend was gone, but saw him on his friend's list so his worry went away slowly. _Guess they still need some time to heal._

The Assault team met in the center of the twenty seventh floor, in the middle of a town deserted by everyone except for the occasional NPC. "Glad to see you all back here again," Kirito looked around and saw that all the same members from the last raid were there and no one else had joined except for a new face among the Divine Dragons.

"Let's go," the leader of the DDA stated. He looked a lot different from the end of the twenty-fifth battle to now, much more composed than he was then. His name was William, and he'd rebuilt the Divine Dragons to some of their former glory, however they would never be able to get rid of the stain on their reputation where over half of their guild was destroyed in one battle, including the former leader.

"Hey Kirito," he looked over and saw Asuna walking over to him. She seemed confused as he smiled at her while she approached, "What's wrong?" she questioned.

"Nothing," he said tilting his head. He continued to smile, "How are you?"

Now she knew something had to be wrong and she leaned in closer to his face making him nervous and start to sweat as he asked what she was doing. "You... did you join a guild?" She looked up and saw a small symbol of a kitten's face next to his health bar.

He nodded and said, "I'm now a member of the Moonlit Black Cats." She smiled and laughed at the name and they walked towards the boss room, Kirito talking the whole time about the different members of his group.

Most of the other people around them on the march were quiet and some even shot dirty looks at the _beater_ who was laughing and having a good time. "Sachi could be really strong if she believed in herself, but she seems like she's always scared. I'll try to..."

"We're here," Heathcliff stated from the front of the group and Kirito faded off of his sentence, staring at the large flaming doors leading inside the boss room.

Some of the others took one look at the menacing door and wavered where they stood, fearing what horrible monster awaited them inside. "Let's go!" Kirito said walking forwards and putting his hands against the door. His scanners told him the flames weren't real, only an illusion but to the others he was shoving himself inside the fire and they tried to grab him.

Before they could, Kirito pushed hard and the door opened wide. The group charged in and fought the fire elemental that formed and attacked them. Kirito got the final attack bonus after Godfree knocked the monster back and called for a switch. When he defeated it, an amazing sword dropped with much, much higher stats than the one handed sword he'd been using.

"Thanks," he said to Godfree, reaching down and helping the muscly man to his feet. The man with the red goatee smiled at the kid before heading over to his guild leader and talking with him.

Kirito said goodbye to Asuna and pulled out a teleportation crystal, calling out the word, "Taft."

Many of the others stared at the spot Kirito was just in, wondering why he would go all the way back down to floor eleven, but Asuna just smiled.

**April 24, 2023.**

"No, raise your sword a little, yeah great. Just like that," he moved away from Sachi as she fought the monster on floor seventeen by herself. The others were watching as the scared girl backed away from the giant spider and fell back.

"Sachi!" Tetsuo called out and got ready to jump right in, but Kirito held up a hand to stop him.

"You can do this," he said calmly to the girl as the spider raced towards her. She seemed to take a deep breath and rolled to the right just as the spider descended on her. She rolled up to her feet and spun, slicing the spider's legs off and making it fall to the ground before disappearing. "Great job," he said and the others all ran over and started congratulating her as she leveled up again to level twenty.

"Now I'm the same level as you," Sachi smiled and turned around but Kirito was scratching the back of his head.

"Actually, I leveled up again yesterday, I'm level twenty-two now," _I hate lying to them, but I don't want them to make me leave_. The others continued to praise Sachi and talked about how she could definitely take the vanguard as they headed up the next few floors.

"Great work today guys," Keita clapped it up for them and he pulled out a teleportation crystal, "let's head home. Taft!" he called out.

The others were all vanishing but the one wearing the helmet was second to last before Kirito, "I hope we have a home of our own one day. Not just rooms in an inn," he then called out the town name and vanished. The boy in black smiled at the spot Sasamaru was just standing, _That sounds nice._

**May 9, 2023.**

The Moonlit Black Cats were on floor twenty already, they were fighting a forest boss together and Kirito was staying back as usual. He didn't want to fight the monster even with his weaker weapons because he would lower its health too much and it would be suspicious to the others.

The praying mantis boss tried swiping at Sachi but she blocked it with her shield. She seemed afraid and Sasamaru's spear did little to make the bug back off. "Sachi, get back," Kirito ran over and sliced off its arm with one movement of his blade." He knocked back its second arm and then called back, "Tetsuo, switch."

The guy wearing a purple undershirt and silver armor ran forwards using the skill for his mace. It glowed purple and he slammed it into the side of the bug boss. "All right!" he cheered as it exploded into dust and he leveled up from twenty-two to twenty-three.

Because of Tetsuo's accomplishment, Keita told them they could take off for the rest of the day and they went into a grassy field, with no monsters in it, and had a picnic. The group was eating some bread and having some virtual wine when Keita picked up a newspaper.

Kirito recognized it as the one his information broker friend was writing, the 'Weekly Argo.'

Keita started talking as he read it, "So an Assault Team made it through floor twenty-eight..." _That was an easy one,_ Kirito smirked. "That's amazing. Hey, Kirito." The boy sitting next to him stopped chewing his bread to see what the other boy wanted to say. "What is it that sets the Assault Teams apart from us?"

He gulped and thought fast, "Information maybe? They know all the most efficient ways to get EXP, and they don't share them." _Except for what I'm doing right now when I take you guys into the woods, but forget about that._

"Well, I'm sure that's got to be part of it. But I think it's willpower," Keita dropped the paper on the grass next to him and crossed his arms. He talked about how determined the lead players must be to protect their friends and all the players of the death game. "My willpower is just as strong," the leader explained. "Of course, our friends' safety is our first priority. But someday, we want to join the ranks of the Assault Team too."

_When that day comes, I'll let you know, and we can all go there together. then I'll tell you everything,_ he felt a pang of guilt for being with the group for over a month and still lying to them about who he was. "I see, you're right, you guys can definitely do it."

"Hey leader you're so cool!" Ducker exclaimed, dropping from the stone wall behind the two of them. He dropped down and put the older boy in a headlock, laughing as he did.

"Joining the ranks of the Divine Dragon Alliance and the Knights of the Blood Oath?" Tetsuo asked increduously.

"What about it? We might as well set our sights high," Keita explained. He was still annoyed that he was in a headlock as the rest of the guild members laughed around him, "First we all have to reach level thirty okay?" _Sounds like a good plan,_ Kirito smiled at the man even as Sachi and Sasamaru argued that it was impossible. _If the Black Cats do make rapid strides and reach the front lines, Keita's ideals could change Heathcliff and Will's secretive atmosphere of the assault teams._

While the group around him made small strides, like a few levels each month, he was already level forty-eight. He'd increased eight times during the short duration he'd spent with the Black Cats.

That night, the group all met inside Keita's room in the inn back at Taft and they were all awaiting the announcement he told them he had prepared. "As of our last hunt, we've saved 200,000 Col!" Everyone, even Kirito was surprised that the guild bank had that much cash inside it.

"Buying our own house won't be just a dream pretty soon," Tetsuo said excitedly.

"Hey, why don't we upgrade Sachi's equipment," Sasamaru asked their leader.

Kirito watched in amusement as the guild argued one what to spend the money on. They wanted Sachi to join the vanguard but she just wasn't ready yet and the girl seemed worried as she slunk further down and stopped smiling like the rest of them. "Don't worry Sachi, switching jobs will be easy and I'm sure you can do it," Keita encouraged.

"Yeah," she whispered, not very enthusiastically.

Later that night, Kirito headed out to floor twenty-eight when he was going to get in some training and maybe a quest. When he got the the field he was going to hunt at however, he saw a group of people he recognized. They were all wearing red clothing and had on black armor, but the man he really wanted to see just sliced through one of the red wolves with bones sticking out of its back in one slice of his katana. "Klein," he whispered and stayed where he stood.

The man sheathed his sword and looked up the hill where he saw a person he hadn't seen in a long time. "Hey, it's you Kirito! You guys, clean up the rest of the trash mobs." Kirito looked behind him and saw that there were more than three members of his guild behind him. _He must've recruited a few others, that means they aren't all his friends from the real world now._ Klein started running up the hill to Kirito but the boy was frowning, _do I mention the last boss fight he was at? What if he's still emotional about the subject? Ahh._

"I was just thinking that I hadn't seen you in a while. You're out leveling this late at night?" Kirito stayed with a blank expression as he tried to come up with a reason for not talking to Klein in so long. "Hey... that mark, did you join a guild?"

Kirito's mouth opened in surprise and then he remembered that Klein had offered to invite him into the Fuurinkazan multiple times but he'd always shut him down. _This just got awkward,_ Kirito looked down to the right and said, "Yeah, sort of..."

Behind the red haired man with the red bandana around his forehead, one of his members called out, "Hey, we can move on now!"

"See you," Kirito said as he walked past his friend. He spent the rest of the night training and then teleported back early in the morning when it was still dark.

Once he arrived in Taft he received a message from Keita and he opened it. _'Sachi went off somewhere and still hasn't returned. We're heading to the dungeon area. If you learn anything, let me know.' Where could she have gone?_ He turned on his tracking scanner and his vision went green. He looked around the city and through buildings until he found her and started running.

When he found her, she was sitting with her knees curled up against her chest under a bridge. He asked to see what was bothering her, but the girl had so much bothering her that it made Kirito kind of distraught. She seemed to almost be threatening suicide, she couldn't handle the game any longer.

"Hey, why can't we leave this place?" Kirito wasn't ever asked that question before. They all knew that it was just the ploy of a madman that made them all play Sword Art Online like this. "Why do we really have to die, even though it's a game? What's the point of all this?"

He thought for a few seconds and then turned away from her, "I don't think there is a point."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Sachi spoke up again, "I'm afraid of dying."

"Afraid of dying?" he asked as his eyes went wide.

Her eyes were shadowed but by the tone of her voice he knew there were tears flowing. "I'm so scared I haven't been able to sleep lately."

"You won't die," Kirito assured in a calm voice.

"Really? How can you say that for sure?" she asked him

"The Black Cats are strong enough to protect you. Our margin of safety is well above average. And there's both Tetsuo and me, so you don't need to force yourself to the front lines." He looked straight at the water under the bridge.

"I really don't have to die?" she asked him, her tone of voice changing. "I can go back to reality someday?"

"Yeah," he smiled at her, "You aren't going to die. I promise, I'm sure they'll beat this game eventually." She seemed satisfied by his response and more than that, she seemed thrilled. A tear trickled down her face and he stood up, "Now let's get back to the inn."

The day went by and the other members of the guild didn't bother Sachi with too many questions about where she went last night. That night when they went back to the inn, Kirito was getting ready to go out for some late night training but he heard a knock at his door. "Come in."

The door creaked open and Sachi walked in holding a pillow, "I'm sorry. I just couldn't get to sleep." She reminded him of his younger sister Sugu as she looked at him and he offered to let her sleep in there with him if it made her feel more safe.

That night he couldn't leave his bed because he didn't want to wake the girl sleeping next to him, so for the first time in a week, he decided to get some sleep. _If I stay in this guild, she'll be safe._ He could feel her soft, steady breaths next to him as the girl lay still on her half of the bed. _Someday we'll be able to go back to the real world. There are lots of players like Sachi who fear death. But they still laugh, cry, and try with all their might to live in this world. I've never even thought about it..._

His thoughtful expression must have made Sachi nervous and wake up because she said out loud, "Kirito?" The boy was startled but slowly turned around to face the girl.

"It's okay, you're going to survive. I promise." She blushed and smiled, before closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep, knowing that he was watching over her. _Because I'm going to protect you all, no matter what. _He raised a fist in the air and clenched it.

**June 12, 2023.**

"Hey Asuna," Kirito waved at the girl who was walking down the street of a level twenty-three town and she turned around to face the familiar voice.

"Kirito," one of the other boys grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. It was Ducker and he was sweating and pacing from one foot to the other. The beautiful girl with light orange hair looked down the street and saw Kirito being pulled by some smaller blonde boy with a gray beanie. "Don't you know who that is?" Ducker asked.

Sasamaru grabbed him by the other arm and pulled him his direction, "That's the Lightning Flash, the Berserk Healer, the second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath!" the spearman whispered loudly at him and the others who recognized her now felt a little unnerved.

"Hey Kirito," she called out and ran over.

"Don't worry guys, she's the friend I said we were meeting for lunch." he walked up to her and gave he a small hug that she wasn't expecting but he used it to whisper into her ear. "Please don't mention anything about me being a beater, or anything about me being near the front lines at all." With that he turned back towards his guild and motioned for them to come and meet her.

_So they don't know his real level,_ she sighed, _you're digging yourself into a hole Kirito. They'll all find out sooner or later,_ "Hi I'm Asuna, you must be Ducker?" she held out a hand as the short kid approached her first.

"How do you know my name?" he said in amazement as one of the best players in the world introduced herself to him.

"Kirito told me all about you guys," she laughed and smirked evilly, "can you guys tell me anything embarrassing that he's done?"

Sasamaru and Tetsuo looked at each other with smirks as Kirito shouted, "Hey."

"Of course we can," Keita said walking forwards and extending his own hand.

"You must be Keita, it's great to finally meet you all." Asuna said truthfully and smiled at them.

After heading to a nice restaurant and eating some food, Ducker changed the subject from whatever the were talking about, "Wow Asuna, you seem to know a lot about us, but Kirito never mentioned you once." The kid got the exact reaction he was looking for as Asuna's face turned angry and she spun to face the black cloaked boy sitting next to her.

"You didn't?!" his mouth opened and he held his hands up in defeat as he looked around for help. The other boys started snickering but started full on laughing when Sachi kicked Ducker's shins from under the table and the boy yelped in pain like a little girl.

"I mean, ahhh," he said in a ridiculously low voice trying to make up for the high-pitched squeal from a second ago. Asuna looked around at the laughing group and couldn't help but join in with them, _wow Kirito, you really made some great friends._

They wound up having a nice lunch and then the group left and said they'd meet up with Kirito later so that he could spend some time with his friend. After they were sure the group was gone, Asuna turned to him, "Why are you lying to them?"

The boy sighed and looked at the ground as he walked, "It's not as if I want to. I always planned on leaving them once they got strong enough to fend for themselves, but they've long since passed that point. But now," he looked off at a group of people laughing and playing in the park. "I don't want anything to change between us, so if they find out I've been lying to them this entire time, I'm sure they'll be mad."

"You know Kirito, they will find out sooner or later," the girl warned him. "If they don't hear it from you, it will be a lot worse than if you tell them yourself." He hadn't really thought about it that way but he had to agree with her.

"Well, we're planning on getting a house towards the end of this month, once we do, I'll tell them the truth. Everything about me will be revealed and I'll see if they still want me to be a part of their guild," he seemed unsure but Asuna reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure they will still want to be your friend. They all seemed like really good people, by the way," she looked at the building closest to her and avoided eye contact with Kirito, "are you and Sachi... you know... together?"

He was completely taken aback by the question and shook his head fast while crossing his arms. "No no no, I think of her more like a sister. I love all of them, they're like a family to me. As long as I'm in their guild, they'll all stay protected." Asuna smiled and they said goodbye. _I mean she does come and sleep in my bed every night, but Asuna doesn't need to know that,_ Kirito started sweating nervously as he teleported back to Taft.

**June 22, 2023.**

_ Today's the day_, Kirito was excited. It was finally the day they were going to buy their own house, so that they could finally move out of the crappy Taft inn that was unfortunately starting to feel like home to him. He got dressed and went outside where the rest of the group was already gathered.

It was pretty late in the morning but he'd had a late night the night before going up against monsters on the thirtieth floor. He hadn't taken part in the last boss battle because he was in the middle of a quest with his guild, but the Divine Dragon Alliance was able to handle it along with the Fuurinkazan. He looked over at Keita who was getting ready to teleport and the teenager smiled at them, "Okay, I'm off. Teleport: Town of Beginnings." The boy disappeared in a ball of blue light with the entire guild chest at his disposal, going to buy them the best house he could find.

They were standing in the center of Taft where you could teleport freely without using any crystals and Sasamaru said, "I didn't know buying your own home would be so exciting."

"You sound like an old man," Ducker teased and the others laughed.

Tetsuo suggested that they go and raise some more Col while Keita was buying the house so that they could furnish their new abode. This idea went over well with the other members even if Kirito was a little nervous to be going out without Keita's guidance. He knew he could take control if needed, but he didn't want to undermine the leader's authority in his own guild.

Even after Ducker and Sasamaru talked about going up to the level twenty-seven dungeon, he was convinced that their levels were high enough that they could handle it. They were almost at the floor the Assault Teams were at, and if they kept up, another name would be joining the KoBO and DDA.

He finally agreed with them and went to the twenty-seventh floor where they cruised their way through the mobs. _Don't know what I was worried about,_ he thought as he watched each of the guild members take out one of the attacking monsters on their own.

"Didn't I tell you? This'll be a breeze for us." Sasamaru exclaimed as he and the others smiled wide. They were gaining EXP fast, "We might be able to reach the front lines soon!"

Ducker saw a panel in the wall and marched over to it, pressing his hand on it. _Wait a second, I don't remember seeing this the last time I cleared this dungeon. Is it a secret door?_ _In a place like this, _ his mouth dropped as he looked inside and saw a treasure chest in the middle of the room. The blonde kid with the yellow cloak started running towards it, "That will have all the money we need to fill the house with furniture."

The other two boys chased him inside the room excitedly as Kirito stuttered, "W-wait!" He moved into the room and Sachi stayed close behind him as Ducker ran in and opened the chest. He had the look of a kid about to receive some candy on his face, but as the chest opened, sirens started blaring and a red light filled the room.

_No!_ Kirito turned and saw the door close behind them. _NO!_ Little panels on the walls started lifting up and Dark Dwarf Miners started running into the room. "Everyone teleport out!" he shouted already fearing the worst.

Mineral Elementals spawned in the air and dropped down to the floor surrounding the dark dwarves. _NO! There's too many,_ he readied his sword as Ducker raised a hand in the air with a blue crystal. "Teleport: Taft!" Ducker shouted but nothing happened, he tried it again but still no response.

"We can't use our crystals?" Sachi said, her voice trembling.

"So this is a crystal-nullification area?" Kirito looked around the room at his close friends and saw the monsters start to make their moves. He made sure Sachi was behind him and started slashing through dwarf miners as fast as he could. Each one of his hits destroyed one but there were too many.

Ducker tripped trying to move away from one enemy and fell stomach down on the ground. He lifted his head a little and saw four dwarves standing over him. Fear fell across his face the likes of which Kirito had never seen on the joyful kid before and he started screaming.

The level fifty plus fighter tried to make his way over but he was too late and the dwarves started slamming their pickaxes into Ducker's back, piercing his yellow cloak and ripping through his flesh. "Ugh, ah, oh, AHHH!" each time a blade hit him it did a lot of damage, soon he was ripped apart into hundreds of little blue triangles, that tinted by the red glow of the room, looked purple as they disappeared.

Kirito's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped, but he was still in combat mode and swiped through the rock monster in front of him, causing it to vanish. _There are still too many,_ he looked around and saw he was surrounded on all sides by monsters. Looking to the other side of the room he just hoped that Tetsuo could survive and protect Sasamaru. As he looked he felt a sense of dread wash over him as the purple-shirt mace-wielder screamed and fell back before exploding.

"Tetsuo!" Sasamaru shouted and then in a rage induced state he charged at the mineral elemental which had killed his best friend, "Damn it!" he shouted and shoved his spear through the monster. It didn't do enough damage however, and the monster swung an arm into the kid, throwing him aside where he died, still in midair.

_Everyone,_ Kirito slashed through another monster and tried to keep it together as he looked for Sachi. "Raar, ra ya," he jumped, swayed, slashed his way through every monster between him and the dark-haired girl, but more monsters seemed to just replace the ones he killed. He did a three sixty degree spin and sliced up three more dwarves before hearing the struggling moans of his friend, "Sachi!" he called over to her and then had to dodge an attack from a Mineral Elemental.

"Kirito," she pushed the monster back and called out to him, the two of them making eye contact.

"Sachi!" he ran towards her and extended a hand as she knocked away another rock giant. She turned to him and started to extend a hand but Kirito gasped as he saw a rock arm coming down from behind her that hit her in the back hard. His mouth opened wide as he stared at her fall in almost slow motion. She turned her head towards him and started talking but she was so quiet that he couldn't even hear what she was saying. Then she exploded into a hundred different green pieces and was gone.

**Floor Thirty**

Klein looked up in the sky as another picture appeared, this time of a young girl, her face looked so sad in he photo. He saw the little emblem at the bottom left corners of each photo and his face fell. _Kirito, I'm so sorry._

On a different part of the floor, Asuna was fighting some mobs with Godfree and when she looked up in the sky she dropped her sword. The man ran over and killed the last monster who was rearing up to strike her. "What are you..." he saw where she was looking and stopped mid-sentence. She put her hands over her mouth and he could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "People you knew?" he asked as he looked up at the photos.

She recognized the faces of the Moonlit Black Cat members she met and had lunch with just a few weeks ago. _Tetsuo, Sasamaru, Ducker... Sachi,_ she let her tears fall as she prayed, _please Kirito, please be okay. And please, don't blame yourself._

**Floor 27**

Kirito stood alone in the room as the red light faded back to normal and the door behind him opened back up. There was no prize for winning, surviving was his reward. If there were bodies in the game, he would be standing on top of a mountain made up of elementals, dwarves, and his own comrades, and blood would be everywhere. _I should have stopped them, I knew it could have been a trap. We never should have came up to this floor._

He walked out of the room, he eyes completely covered by his black hair that dropped in front of his eyes. The bangs he could barely see through, but he didn't need to see to use his crystal and he teleported to Taft.

The second he arrived, a few people in the square turned and saw him. The ones who spent a lot of time in the city recognized him, and had also seen the faces that appeared on the ceiling a few minutes before. They were just now vanishing and the players around him moved out of the way as he walked down the middle of main street.

One man didn't know who he was since he was just there to trade, but another one quickly ran into the street and pulled him to the side as Kirito walked past. "What the," the kid heard the man say before getting his mouth covered.

"Shh, that kid's a member of the guild that just got massacred," he heard the other man speak the words and instantly images of all four of his friends dying shot across his vision, Sachi's being the slowest and most painful. He realized that he had stopped walking in the middle of the street and was about to keep going when he saw a little message icon appear on his interface.

'Hey, I've got the keys and no one else is responding, something weird is up, come meet me on the east side of town.' The message was from Keita and Kirito instantly felt guilty. _He must have been inside when the gunshots went off, buying a house from some realtor. Or maybe he just didn't look up at the sky, they're so common nowadays._

The boy started walking slowly towards the eastern edge of town, he was going to come clean to Keita, with everything. He got to the edge of town by himself and the guild leader ran over with a smile on his face and a set of keys in his hands. "Hey Kirito, where is everyone?" he looked around. "I really want to show them the house I picked out, it's amazing... what's wrong?" he asked, Kirito was still staring down at the ground.

Suddenly the fifteen year old looked up at the leader of the Black Cats and started, "I'm sorry Keita, I should have told you from the beginning. I was a beta-tester," the man's face started to change as he frowned, confused at what was going on, at why he couldn't find his friends' names on his friend list. "I'm a beater, and yet, and yet," he looked the man straight in the eyes, "I let the others die." Keita's face distorted as Kirito explained how they'd gone to get money for furniture but it was a trap. "I should have told you the truth, if they knew I was a beater, they would have known to listen to me..."

"You were a beater! You never had any right to get involved with us!" Keita stopped yelling as the realization finally set in. Everyone he knew, they were all dead, _I'm never getting out of this game, Tetsuo, Sasamaru,_ he turned to his right and looked at the sunset in the distance. Kirito was hurt by the man's words and looked down at the floor in sorrow. _Sachi, Ducker, I'm coming,_ Keita started walking to the railing on the edge of town.

At the last second, Kirito looked back up and gasped, his whole body flinching as he saw Keita climb up onto the ledge. "Noo!" he shouted as he ran forwards trying to grab onto the back of Keita's red shirt as he dropped off the side of the Aincrad floor and thus, off of the world. He stared down after the man as he fell through the clouds and disappeared.

A group of people were on the sidewalk behind Kirito and stared in worry at the kid whose friend just jumped off. A gunshot was heard and everyone looked up in the sky once more. On every floor, people looked up and saw that one final guild member decided to join his friends.

The ones who saw Keita jump off suddenly realized who he was as the little crown in front of the symbol on his profile picture made it obvious. The leader of a slaughtered guild couldn't handle the guilt of losing them all and took his own life. They all started moving forwards to make sure that if the black cloaked kid tried to jump, they'd be able to stop him.

However, Kirito did not reach for the edge or try to jump. He simply opened up his menu and scrolled to the guild option. Everyone watched as the little symbol next to his health bar disappeared and the kid started walking away. "He's lost it," the boy heard one person say. His hearing was at a higher level than most people's and all the whispering going on around him he could hear.

"He's going to go insane."

"His entire guild, must be terrible."

"Shh, I think he can hear us," as the person whispered this he looked over to her and she flinched, realizing he had heard her as well.

"Oh really? I can hear you?" his hair lifted over his eyes and they all stared into the crazed darkness inside them. "No shit I can hear you," the image of Keita dropping off the side flashed through his mind and he grabbed the side of his head, punching it a few times to get the image to go away.

He started stumbling down the street, staring through his bangs at people who were laughing and smiling. They had no idea he was close friends with everyone who just died but he didn't care any longer. He walked straight to the center of town and saw a couple dozen pairs of eyes on him. Without pause he went into his menu and removed the sword he'd used whenever he was with his friends and put in his much better one. As he switched weapons, people got a good look at the level he was at and stumbled backwards.

Many of them had seen him around town over the last few months but nobody knew that he was over level fifty. People that weren't running were looking at him with astonished looks and whispering to their friends as he shouted, "Floor thirty!" He disappeared and reappeared in the middle of a town on the thirtieth floor.

As he materialized he instantly felt two hands on him and angrily looked down just to see Asuna pull herself in and wrap him in a hug. She put her head down on his right shoulder and he felt her embrace, knowing she was there but staring ahead down the street with other things on his mind.

"Kirito, are you okay? What happened?" she asked as she pulled herself back. The orange-haired girl was hoping that Kirito would still have Keita so he wouldn't be too distraught, but the image floating in the sky let her know that he was all that remained of the Black Cats.

She got a look into his eyes but he wasn't even looking at her, he was spaced out and started walking away from her. She ran in front of him and tried to stop him but he pushed her aside and she fell, not expecting the forceful shove. "Talk to me Kirito!" she shouted and anyone who was around looked over at her outburst.

The boy stopped walking and turned coldly towards her, his hair parting a little so that he could stare straight into her eyes. His mouth was flat and he looked at her with no emotion, "They're all dead," he said in an almost inaudible voice. "I couldn't protect them, and now they're all dead."

_I knew it he's blaming himself, _"Kirito, you..."

"No Asuna," he said solemnly, "goodbye." He walked down the street as a dark shadow covered his face.

The girl behind him called his name over and over but he wouldn't turn back around. Finally he rounded the corner and was out of her sight, _I'm so pathetic. He's out there right now thinking he's the worst person in this world._ She felt horrible but knew that it was nowhere near how bad Kirito must be feeling at the same moment.

The next day, Asuna was sitting in on a meeting with the top officers of her guild and of the Divine Dragons, deciding which of their groups would head the next boss room assault in a few days. As they were debating it, they all received a notification in their menus.

"What?!" William shouted angrily as he stood up out of his seat.

"How is this possible?" Heathcliff seemed oddly disturbed by the information and headed out the door as quick as he could. The rest of the meeting's members followed him out and they ran for the boss room. When they reached the labyrinth, not a single monster jumped out to try and attack them.

_Is it true?_ Asuna wondered as they neared the boss room and saw the door cracked open. Two scouts for the Divine Dragons were standing outside the door, trembling as they looked back at the incoming group. "What happened?" William ordered his men to explain and the two guild members looked at each other as if wondering whether or not to speak.

"I-I, I don't know," one of them finally managed to say. "We used an invisibility cloak from the market in Weelo, so the mobs didn't see us and we were going to check out the boss room like you asked."

"But as we finally got to this door," the other one continued, "we heard shouting coming from the entrance of the dungeon and watched as all the monsters that we tried so carefully to sneak past, were slaughtered, all of them."

"Who did it? Was it one of ours?" the men shook their heads, "One of theirs," he pointed at the KoBO players behind him and the Divine Dragon shook his head again.

"He walked right past us even when we took off our cloak, he acted like we weren't even here and went straight into the boss room. That kid in the black cloak, he's nuts, that was suicide," the man stopped talking as Asuna pushed past him and ran through the cracked open door. Her mouth dropped as all she saw in the room was the big word, 'Congratulations.' _He did it!? All on his own?_ The others walked into the room after her and all stared amazed at the empty boss room.

"So who was he?" One of the newer members of the Divine Dragon Alliance asked.

Someone else turned to him, "A solo player, and a beater." He was a member of the clearing team who had fought a lot of battles with the kid from the previous floors. The man knew that Kirito was good but, "I can't believe he actually managed to kill a boss on his own."

She whispered under her breath, "Kirito, be careful. Don't try something stupid like this again, please." _He could have died, no, he was probably planning on it._

**A/N Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. Leave a review below telling me what you think. Next time on SAO, Kirito is sad... duh.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

**August 24, 2023.**

"Hiya! Raa," Kirito spun and slashed, cutting up the blue raptor that was swinging at his back with its long arm. A small window appeared in front of him notifying him that he leveled up, but he slid it to the side and went straight on to the next monster.

Ever since floor thirty, he had yet to go back to an earlier floor and continued moving up fast. He took the hardest quests he could find, whether or not they were recommended for a large party or not. Kirito battled dungeon bosses and giant forest monsters on his own, for months. The only times he came back to civilization for a few hours were when he needed to stock up on supplies or join in a boss fight.

_"What were you thinking? You could've gotten yourself killed!"_ he remembered the day after he took down the floor thirty boss, Asuna chased him down and tracked him to an isolated part of the thirty-first floor's forest. He was sitting on a rock at the time and staring up at the sky when she ran over and started screaming at him. He rudely told her off and she stormed away after that. Now he ran towards another strong monster by himself, ignoring her words completely.

As he finished off the final monster in the dungeon before the boss, he thought about going for another floor boss fight on his own. He shook his head slowly, _She's right, I need to be here to get everyone out okay._ He tried to reason himself into not being so risky all the time, but as Ducker's body, getting stabbed over and over, appeared in his mind he snapped and sprinted towards the large lizard beast beckoning for him to attack.

"Hisssss, come here, hissss," the beast seethed as it moved fast avoiding Kirito's first attack. The boy anticipated its movements and followed up with a back slash, catching the monster in the side where he imbedded his sword. "SSSS!" it snarled angrily and batted him away with a swing of its long green tail.

The boy got back up and crouched down as the dungeon boss lunged. He shoved his sword up just as the monster was coming over his head and his sword impaled the beast. It struggled for a few seconds, trying to get away, but Kirito removed his glowing red blade and the monster fell to the floor and perished.

_Good enough for today,_ he turned and walked towards the exit of the dungeon. He didn't even notice as a gunshot fired up above and a new face appeared in the sky. The sound didn't happen as often as it did in the early months, but it still wasn't a rare occurrence, so Kirito ignored it each time he heard the noise.

He walked back into the thirty-fifth floor's tavern and got himself a room for the night upstairs. When he laid on his bed he got to one side and stared at the other empty side of it in sorrow. _It's been two months, _he shook his head, not wanting to think about it again. There wasn't a single day that went by when he didn't regret his decisions that day, when he didn't wish he could see them all one last time. _Sachi..._

A few days after the Black Cats defeat, Kirito found one of the weekly newspapers lying on the ground on the side of a city street and picked it up. Anything that could distract him from seeing the faces of his guild members everywhere he turned would be good. However, that newspaper did exactly the opposite.

Inside the weekly paper, he saw a story about himself, at the top of the page was a title, 'Black Knight Kirito.' He didn't feel the usual urge to smirk and instead skimmed through the passage about how he defeated the boss room solo somehow. Then he saw another story about a fisherman on floor three who won a fishing contest and it did manage to distract him for a few seconds, _maybe fishing would be fun. I've never tried leveling up my skills in it before._

His small smiled faded fast and turned to a deep frown as he saw the next column. On it was a list, that ranked the top ten strongest guilds in Aincrad. The top one for the third week in a row was the KoBO, with the DDA right behind them. Kirito saw that Klein's guild was in fifth place, and the Army was ranked third. They were stationed on the first floor, but they had thousands of members, and many of them went to higher floors to train.

Below them were a few smaller guilds, ones he didn't even recognize that were probably floors below the lead groups. Under the list was a small article about it and his eyes darkened as he dropped the paper and kept walking. The paper dropped on the floor face up, the article reading, 'The eighth ranked green guild drops off the leaderboard, surprising many who had seen them rise slowly through the ranks. Their guild was comletely annihilated and if you try looking them up, you'll find there's no longer such a guild as the Moonlit...' Kirito only made it that far into the article before he had dropped the page and had no idea how it ended.

It was now months later, but he was still struggling to come to terms with what happened. Kirito found that the only time he could find peace, was when he was asleep. He rarely had nightmares and barely dreamt at all, so the nine to ten hours he spent a day asleep, was the best time of his days.

The next day was the day of the thirty-fifth floor boss clearing meeting and he decided to go to it instead of just showing up outside the boss room three minutes before the other guilds went in to clear it. Last time, he'd gotten into an argument with one of the DDA officers who told him to stay back during the fight since he wasn't in on the plan. Instead of listening, Kirito joined the frontal assault and put more damage on the monster than any of the Divine Dragon members. Even though one of them got the final blow so the EXP was distributed among their party, the man he had been arguing with went right back at it, angry that Kirito was taking all the glory.

_This time, they'll know I'm coming,_ He thought as he walked out of the inn and into the town. He arrived at the small park in the center of town where everyone was meeting for the fight. This time, the KoBO was taking charge of the boss fight and Kirito listened to Heathcliff give a small, concise speech about what information they had from the scouting reports. He listened from a tree that he was leaning up against and saw Asuna turn towards him with a serious look but he wasn't really paying too much attention, he just wanted them to know he'd be there.

The meeting ended and the fifteen year old moved away from the tree and started walking towards the tailor where he hoped to find a decent quest to take on. He felt a tug on the back of his cloak and turned around, seeing Asuna staring at him expectantly. He looked into her eyes and waited for her to say something but she just kept staring at him, "What?' he finally asked.

"What?" she repeated in an unamused voice, "Do you not remember the last time we met up?" He did and wanted to forget about it, he nodded his head, "Well I'm still waiting for that meal, so you going to take me out to lunch?" She asked, her epression softening as she looked for an answer. _Please Kirito, you need to enjoy life again._

"Maybe some other time," he gave her a small smile and turned back around, walking down the street again to his original destination. The girl wouldn't leave him alone any time they saw each other, but he started realizing that she was coming to him less and less.

At first she begged him to talk to her about what happened, but within a few weeks, she just resorted to trying to get him to go on quests with her. They finally went on one two weeks earlier and the girl had made a bet with him, that whoever defeated more of the hundred monsters they had to kill would take the other out for lunch.

Kirito halfheartedly agreed to that and Asuna won, 51-49. When they finished, the two of them were panting, having used all their speed to get ahead of the other and keep the game close. She saw the boy smile for real that day, maybe for the first time since his guild was destroyed. But as soon as she saw it, it fell away and he frowned as he went and handed in the quest with her before disbanding the temporary party.

As she thought back on it, the fun times probably reminded him too much about his friends and the great times they had together, but she wasn't going to give up. However, as he once again gave her the cold shoulder, she sighed and turned back. _Fine, keep self-loathing for all I care. Just do it somewhere else,_ she walked back towards her guild and joined up with them as they talked about some more specifics on the boss fight before leaving for individual quests that day. After about twenty seconds she couldn't handle it any longer and spun back around but Kirito wasn't there.

**October 31, 2023.**

In the middle of the special Halloween event, Kirito broke off from the massive party that was working together to gain the important scroll they were after. It was supposedly full of information about the next five bosses all the way up to forty-nine.

The reason he separated was because he recognized a short cloaked figure standing next to a tree on the twenty-ninth floor. He started walking towards her and she faced the other direction, walking slowly so that he could catch up and then they started walking with each other. Kirito didn't turn to her and she didn't face him either, they just walked in silence for a few minutes.

Argo finally looked out of her hood at the boy walking next to her and winced, seeing his face up close for the first time in a while. He looked troubled, but to a point where it looked as if his face just normally looked like that now. "I have some information," she started and before she could continue he made a quick transfer of a hundred Col towards her. _Whoa!_ she wasn't expecting so much money for anything she had, although she did have some juicy stuff to tell.

"What's up?" he asked and kept walking. He had messaged her two days after his guild was annihilated and asked about a revival item, but she said it didn't and couldn't exist since their brains fried when they died in the game. His message sounded so horrible however, that she said she'd look around and tell him if she found anything.

She could hear the held back anxiety in his voice and she started speaking, "The Christmas event." He looked at her as they stopped walking near some trees and she pulled out a small file from her inventory and started reading from it. "Rumors are going around that the event boss is going to drop an item that can..." she stopped, not wanting to get his hopes up if it was bogus.

"Bring someone back to life?" he asked her and the girl nodded slowly. He had planned on chasing after the rest of the Halloween quests with the large group of combined guilds, but this was much, _much,_ more important to him. Without another word he turned away from Argo and walked off towards the street before holding up a blue crystal and shouting, "Israphel!"

She watched as the boy disappeared, heading to the main city on the forty-fifth floor that they had yet to clear the boss room. _Is he going to try to do another boss fight on his own?_ _No. He wouldn't do that knowing that he might have a chance at bringing one of them back._

Kirito appeared in the middle of a desserted town. Anyone strong enough to fight on the top floor they had reached was working down below on finishing the Halloween event before the time ran out. He walked towards the town hall, which in this town was a giant castle with a king living in it. The man and his entire council had quests designed for full parties so Kirito went upstairs to the council chambers.

"Who is this man? Interrupting us at such a vital time in the war against the blood elves of Nissengail." The man with the golden crown said to one of his advisors who got out of his chair in confusion.

The NPC that Kirito assumed was the commander of the army stood with a battle axe in his hands and stated, "He must be an elven spy, we should eliminate him now."

"No," Kirito looked at the man standing behind the king. A tall pale figure walked around the table and looked down once he stood right in front of Kirito, "this man, he might just be the one foretold of in the prophecy."

"That's impossible, no one..." Kirito sighed and tuned out to the long introduction, he waited for the room to finally become quiet. Each of the council members stood awaiting him to walk up and ask them what he could do to help in the war effort. The plot line of these quests actually sounded pretty cool and he would have enjoyed it if it wasn't for the fact that he had the chance, _Sachi. I choose you. I'm going to need to step up my leveling fast. If I do the Christmas event with a party, the item could be given to any of us, so I have to do it alone, _he finally left the castle with an array of high level missions that all gave huge amounts of Experience rewards. _I NEED THAT ITEM!_

The next day, the entirity of Aincrad was disappointed to hear about the Christmas mission's failure. They let the boss escape when he was down to only a fraction of his health and as a result, they wouldn't get the secret information on the floor 45-49 bosses.

Kirito was on his way back to Israphel to hand in his first completed quest which took him the entire night and he spotted a group of five members of a top tier guild. He tried to avoid them but they saw him as well and scowls came over all of their faces. "You! Where did you go last night?" one of them shouted angrily as they walked towards him.

"I'm sorry," _the mission could have been successful if I had just stayed with them. No, this is more important, I don't regret the decision._ He looked up with cold eyes, silently threatening the men to say more.

The one in front grunted and walked away, muttering curses at Kirito behind his back. He ignored them and went back to the castle, and as he handed in a quest to the man with the battleaxe, the door behind him opened.

"Who are these people? Interrupting us at such a vital time in the..." the king started speaking but Kirito was heading back out of the room to avoid any contact with other players.

When he was about to reach the door, he felt a hand lift his head up and he saw Asuna staring straight at him. Before he could say anything, she slapped him across the face and knocked him out the door of the room. The look of disappointment and anger on the girl's face, who had spent the full twenty four hours of the previous day running between floors trying to complete the quest, made Kirito feel guilt tearing at him.

He was being selfish, trying to get stronger so that he could have a miniscule chance of bringing one of his friends back to life. Kirito knew that it was probably impossible, but even the one percent chance was enough to make him stake his life on it. "Where were you?" she charged out of the room, leaving the small party of Knights behind to pick up the quests. "I saw you hand in one of the quests from in here, you spent the whole night on it didn't you?"

He nodded, looking up into her eyes softly, but there was no look of understanding and she only became more furious, "Asuna, I..."

"I don't want to hear your excuse. That information could have gotten us so much further in such a short amount of time. It would have saved dozens, no hundreds of lives, and if you were there we could have beaten it." She looked up at the ceiling as she clenched her fists, "You don't understand how close we were. All the side quests giving us the clues of where to find him, finally leading up to the boss fight itself. Rrggh," she punched the closest wall and an icon appeared telling her it was an immortal object. "If you were there..." she stopped and composed herself.

He stopped trying to cut in and explain and instead just sat there accepting her wrath. There was nothing he could say that he felt would justify his actions and he just looked down at the ground as he got back to his feet. "Kirito," she whispered as she turned away from him and back at the door to the council room, "I don't want to see you, for a long time." He looked up but she didn't turn back around, she just grabbed the doorknob and let herself in.

_I understand why she's so mad, so many are going to die because of my decision. Sachi..._ his determination suddenly overwhelmed his guilt and his face hardened. _Let her hate me, let them all despise me, I'm still going to bring her back. I'm going to hear her last words._

**December 12, 2023.**

It was over thirteen months since Sword Art Online started, and the end was still a good distance away. A girl wearing a white cloak was surrounded by six others dressed similarly as they marched towards the floor forty-eight boss room. She turned and saw the Fuurinkazan coming from a connecting street where they merged into the party and the two groups made a small raid group.

"Good to see you Klein," she greeted as the man walked up to her. They each had six members of their guild behind them and the man gave her a small smile in greeting. The fourteen of them started the long trek from the city to the tower where the boss room was situated. A few smaller parties and solo players joined in with them as they walked.

When they were about ten minutes away from the boss room, Klein broke the silence and said, "Have you seen him?" The girl winced, knowing who Klein was talking about and feeling insanely guilty. She shook her head slowly and they kept walking as Klein sighed in disappointment, "He's missed a couple of boss fights in the past, but never two in a row, let alone three. This is the fourth time in a row we're attacking without him showing up." They both were hoping that he would be standing in front of the boss door waiting for them to show up, but when they got to the dungeon their hopes were crushed as all the monsters leading to the door were still there, and Kirito wasn't one to sneak around.

Asuna slashed another monster backwards and called for one of her subordinates to run in and finish it off. She stood there staring at the door in front of her, her mind wandering. _Kirito, where are you? I can't stand feeling this guilty,_ a week after she told the black-haired boy off, a girl approached her seemingly out of nowhere.

She recognized her as the information broker Argo and the girl walked towards her and yelled at her straight to her face. Asuna was so surprised that she almost fell when she stumbled backwards, most people knew of her and her reputation as being one of the strongest in the Assault team. Normal people didn't normally just go up shouting at someone else either.

**"What did you say to him?!" the shorter girl yelled at Asuna as the second in command of the KoBO regained her composure. "Why won't he answer my messages?"**

** "If you're talking about the Black Knight," she started, not even referring to Kirito by his name, "He is the cause of the failure of the Halloween event. He knows not to show his face to me again, I made sure of it." The girl in front of her did something surprising to everyone who watched the scene unfold in the middle of the forty-sixth floor town. Argo slapped Asuna, exactly as the girl did to Kirito a week before. She reached up with one hand and grabbed her cheek which was now red.**

** "If you're going to blame someone for the mission failure, blame me not him," she whispered to Asuna. Argo didn't want everyone around her turning into an enemy as she wasn't as strong as Kirito and couldn't hold off the masses if they decided to turn on her. In a lower voice that didn't lose any of its sadness, Argo stepped closer to the taller girl who had a hand on the hilt of her rapier. "I told him about the next event that he's now off training for. I should have waited for the Halloween mission to be over, but I didn't."**

**"What are you talking about?" Asuna asked her angrily, shooting a glare at a few of the bystanders who got the message and scattered. **

** "Do you want to know why Kirito is off right now, fighting monsters and taking quests that are too high for any one player to be attempting on his own? It's because there's a revival item going to be dropped after the next event." Asuna gasped, **_**a revival item? Could that really exist, but why would Kirito... he just... oh no.**_** The understanding look came over Asuna's face and Argo growled at her, "I don't know what you said to him, but right as I thought I could raise his spirits, you crushed them worse than they've been for months. Hope you're happy," Argo had said what she needed to say and spun, walking away from the stunned girl.**

"Hey Asuna?" she snapped out of it and saw that the hallway was cleared, leaving a path right to the boss room. One of her party members continued, it was a man recently added named Kuradeel, "Are you alright? You spaced there for a little My Lady." The new recruit treated her like a celebrity, and while sometimes it felt good to be adored, he was a little too much for her.

"I'm fine," she assured and walked towards the door, snapping back into fight mode as she prepared to challenge the floor's boss.

sc

Down below the tower, in a dungeon specifically made for a three man group, Kirito was fighting off all three of the mid-level bosses at the same time. A single one would have been difficult for a high-level player, but three at the same time was near impossible.

He'd never seen combinations like theirs before as they used each other for support. _It's like they're players_, he thought as one knocked him back and another charged forwards, using his friend's attack to catch Kirito off-balance with a hard kick in the face. _Really good players._

The third red ogre was behind him and the kick sent him flying towards it. _No need to hide it any longer,_ he used one of his sword skills, a new one that recently appeared on his list. It had just popped up one day as he was scrolling through to track a monster for a quest, the Duel Wielding skill. So far, he hadn't heard of anyone else obtaining it, so he guessed it must have been an original sword skill that only he might have, like Heathcliff's Divine Blade.

As his back was about to slam into the boss, he spun in midair and became a blur as his two blades crossed around the monster's neck, slicing its head off in a combo attack. The other two didn't falter as the third monster went down and they charged Kirito simultaneously.

The boy kicked the ground with one foot and started spinning around as he held out his swords. The two ogres ran towards him but the spinning swords slashed them both and knocked them away. He followed up by charging one while it was separated from its friend. In a few hits he had taken it down and sensed the other one right behind him. He flipped his left-handed sword and slammed it backwards without turning, feeling it collide with its mark and sink into rough ogre flesh.

"Urrgg," the monster groaned as it vanished just like its comrades. A window appeared in front of him that read, 'Level 67-68, congratulations.' He dismissed it and left the dungeon, going to hand it the quest that would also give him a huge amount of EXP since it was usually split between three players.

**December 24, 2023.**

Kirito walked through the bustling city of Mugien. The forty-ninth floor was in the middle of its winter season and people from all of the different floors came up and decorated the main city there. The previous Christmas was only a month after the start of the game, and most people weren't in the mood to celebrate as two thousand people had just died. This year however, most people had become accustomed to their game lives and were going to enjoy the holiday.

Mugien was covered in Christmas lights, and fighters had taken off for the night to celebrate. During the past week, people went into the pine forest and chopped down the biggest tree they could find, standing it up in the middle of the town square. The whole town was filled with people excited and happy about Christmas. There was one fifteen year old who wasn't feeling the cheer going around however, and he went and sat down on the bench near the main square.

His hair went down over his face to about his nose but had cracks that he could see through and watched some happy shoppers going around buying each other presents. Finally he heard a voice and didn't even turn to the right as his peripheral vision picked up a figure leaning against the back of the bench. He had no idea how she always snuck up on him, even when he was at such a high level. "Lately you've been taking big risks with your level raising." She was frowning and looking the other direction instead of looking Kirito in the eyes because she didn't want him to see the concerned look on her face.

Ignoring the girl's statement, Kirito questioned in a soft voice, "Did you get any new information?"

She knew that was why he called the meeting but she didn't tell him over a message because she wanted to see if he was alright. She looked up a little, "Nothing worth charging money for."

"You're giving information brokers a bad name," he stated as a small joke and she smiled.

A smile came over her face, _he's getting better. I hope tonight works out for him, he could really start healing._ Then she realized what he said and retorted quickly, "This wasn't in the beta test, it's a first time event. There's no way to get information," she continued, actually having a little more info than she led him on to believe. "At midnight tonight, the event boss, Nicholas the Renegade, will appear. He'll be beneath a fir tree, but all the leading guilds are searching frantically for it."

Her warning was ignored as Kirito got off the bench with a grunt. She turned a little, seeing his unwavering stature and asked, "You have an idea where it is, don't you?"

"Maybe," he started walking away.

She knew that it wasn't a smart idea to tell information brokers where something good was, because they were going to sell your secret to the highest bidder. Argo wasn't planning on doing that however and she turned completely, calling to Kirito as he walked away, "You're seriously going to try and solo it?" He didn't respond and just walked out of hearing distance before disappearing in the crowd.

The girl sighed, _please don't die Kirito._

The boy in the black cloak made his way back to the inn he was staying at in Mugien. He went up to his room and had a few hours before the boss would be appearing. He equipped his strongest armor and took out his strongest sword. _In this world, the dead can never return. _Kirito had made it to level seventy and was finishing up his final preparations. _But the rumor that Nicholas the Renegade will really drop something that can revive a dead player is too good to let pass. If I try and fight him alone, I'll probably die._

He looked into his sword and stared at his reflection in the metal. It wasn't his face he saw though, it was Keita's. He remembered watching the man jump off the world, too distraught to keep on living. _I'll die in a place where no one will see me,_ _leaving nothing behind._ He clenched his eyes shut as he saw their faces, each of them, one by one.

The Black Cats flew through his mind until it stopped on Sachi and he just watched her disappear over and over. _That's right, I... my arrogance... killed you all. If only I hadn't kept my level secret, _that one secret cost five people their lives, and he didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive himself.

Kirito finished preparing and went to the center of Mugien, teleporting fourteen floors down to the thirty-fifth floor. He ran out of the city he appeared in and then slowed his pace as he walked into the Forest Maze.

He got between the rows of trees and saw the tall fig tree in the distance, knowing that that was where the event would be taking place. He continued walking forwards while reading a map he got off of a strong opponent on the forty-eighth floor. _If I can kill Nicholas, Sachi's soul will return, and I'll be able to hear her last words._

Kirito had spent countless hours recalling Sachi's death, trying to read her lips in his memory to figure out what she told him, but the only word he was able to make out was, 'blame.' He looked up at the huge shadow of the fig tree, knowing that it was almost always hidden from sight. Even now he could barely see it, only an outline through the blizzard he was walking in. _Whatever words she uses to curse me, I've got to accept them._

He started sprinting towards the tree and passed through a barrier. Suddenly the tree became much more visible and Kirito knew he was close. His warning senses flared and he jumped to the side, staring near a few trees where a bunch of blue lights appeared. _Klein?_ "Yo," the man called over to him.

"You followed me?" Kirito asked, glaring at the six man party.

"Well yeah. Are you after the revival item?" The samurai and all his buddies were dressed in red and had on their best equipment. Klein was talking casually to Kirito, but the rest of them seemed a lot more on edge being around the Black Knight who'd been missing for a few months.

"Yeah," Kirito finally stopped looking like he was about to bolt for the boss as he decided it would be difficult with Klein's group on his tail.

"Don't risk your life over what might be a bogus rumor." Klein told him although Kirito knew the man was there for the same thing, even if he did bring reinforcements with him. "This death game is for real. The moment our HP reaches zero, our brains in the real world..."

"Shut up," Kirito whispered just loudly enough for Klein to hear him. _I know it's true, but, IT CAN'T BE TRUE! _It sounded like Klein was warning him to be careful at first, but the hidden meaning behind his words was clear, he didn't think reviving anyone was possible.

The man was taken aback by the coldness in Kirito's voice but he wasn't going to let the fifteen year old run to his death, "Enough with your reckless solo raids!" he scolded him, "Join us," it was the first time in many months since Klein had offered that same thing to the kid. "Whoever gets it to drop the revival item keeps it, no hard feelings. That should be fair enough, right?"

The older man knew that Kirito was hurting because of his guild, but he had lost friends too, good friends. He knew a lot of his party members had as well, and if there was even a small chance that it would work, he wanted them all to have an equal shot at getting the item.

"Then there'd be no point." Kirito reached up and grabbed his sword, seeing that Klein was not planning on moving aside for him. "I have to do it myself."

The group in red all tensed up and readied their weapons but Klein held up a hand stopping them. "I can't let you die here, Kirito!" That sounded like he was going to try and restrain the teenager so Kirito pulled his sword but only got it about halfway out of the sheath when over a dozen blue lights appeared around the Fuurinkazan.

The group fell back towards Kirito, who they felt safer near than the new arrivals. Men in silver armor with swords and shields appeared all around them with smirks on their faces. "So, you were being followed too Klein."

"Looks that way," he was vastly outnumbered by the opposing guild, but he reached for his katana anyway and grinned at the enemy. Klein's alliance members started wavering as they saw it was the Divine Dragons who followed them. "Tamu," the bearded man whispered in a growl as a man wearing earrings and holding a knife stared at him with a wicked smile, licking his lips.

Kirito got ready to draw his sword but Klein did first and shouted, "Damn it!" his plan had backfired and it was obvious his guild wasn't going to get the item now. That didn't mean he had to ruin Kirito's chances, "Go Kirito! Go on, we'll hold them off!"

"Klein," the boy whispered. He nodded and turned, sprinting for the fir tree and thanking the man mentally.

The DDA members looked pissed that the boy in the black cape was running off towards the tree but the one in front, Tamu, called out, "Don't worry, that one's just running to his death. After he fails and we incapacitate this pathetic group, we'll head in and do the job right."

Kirito ran towards the tree and out of sight as the two guilds clashed. There was an unwritten rule not to let someone drop below the red in a skirmish so once players reached yellow, it was known to back away. Nobody wanted to become a red player, or kill another player over something trivial, but sometimes violence was still the answer and the Fuurinkazan and DDA proved that by attacking each other.

It seemed like Klein's guild was going to be taken down fast, but as the members who dropped below half health went to the side, they used the potions they had stored for the boss battle and joined back in. After about an hour of fighting, Kirito and Tamu were glaring at each other, both panting as all the members of each of their guilds lay on the snow, too tired to keep fighting.

"Why haven't we heard the gunshot yet?" Tamu shouted as he casted a glance towards the tree.

"Haha, you don't really think that Kirito would go down so easily did you?" the member of the DDA suddenly realized who the kid that charged towards the event was and lowered his knife, a look of anger coming over his face.

Tamu shot one last nasty look at the Fuurinkazan before calling for a retreat. Him and his men disappeared and Klein finally collapsed on the ground, panting with his men and waiting for Kirito to finish the mission.

Earlier, as Kirito made it to the tree, he saw that from up close it was actually illuminated from the inside, making it look quite beautiful. The bells started ringing, something on that floor that signified the strike of midnight. As soon as they did, Kirito heard sleigh bells up above him and saw blue streaks moving across the starry sky.

A huge figure dropped out of the sky that landed on the ground shooting snow up all around him. It looked like an ugly, zombie-like Santa Claus with glowing pink eyes. It roared at the lone fighter before it who glared up at the monster in absolute, unadulterated fury. "Shut up."

It raised its axe in the air and stretched out, showing to be several stories tall. Kirito sprinted towards it and screamed a bloodthirsty yell. He connected his sword with the monster's weapon and blocked it. Nicholas the Renegade was faster than his giant body indicated though and met with Kirito's follow up attack.

The two of them clashed weapons over the next couple of hours, each getting a few hits in occasionally with a special attack or a sword skill. Kirito had both of his weapons drawn, he had to replace his second strongest with his third strongest after the second hour because it cracked in half in a parry with the monster's axe.

When Nicholas reached one health bar, an alarm sounded and Kirito's health went back to full, but an indicator appeared in front of him letting him know that health potions were no longer able to be used. With this new development, the event boss dropped his weapon and it shattered on the ground into blue pieces. The long sleeves the monster was wearing opened and two long, sharp blades extended an he grasped on to them with his gray hands.

The pink eyes from before turned a deep black and the roar it let out was much lower and scarier, probably meant to intimidate players. The only thing Kirito noticed however, was the weapon change and he switched his strategy accordingly.

He was brought down to half health as Nicholas slashed at him with his left spike but as he was thrown backwards, he saw that the boss's health was decreasing steadily. The weapons were digging into his hands and purple blood dripped down from the monster as it hurt itself with the new, stronger abilities. _Use that,_ Kirito got back up and started stalling for time. He only blocked attacks and ran in circles around the beast as it tried desperately to hurt him.

It swung one blade down really fast and Kirito couldn't dodge it so he held up both of his swords in an X and sparks flew as the weapons clashed. He didn't see the other spike until it was too late and the left spike slammed into his side and made him tumble across the snow.

Kirito was dazed and got on his knees, watching his health bar lower through the yellow and stop just as it hit the red. _One more hit like that and I'm dead,_ he didn't hesitate to stand back up and start charging at the monster for one final attack. They both had close to no health but Kirito's swords glowed red and he ran forwards and slashed at the monster's legs with as much speed and strength as he could muster until the Sword Skill ran out.

He saw the monster's health almost drop to zero, but it wasn't there yet, and he wasn't ready for another attack. Nicholas was ready however, and he raised his sharp spikes into the air, holding them directly above the kid who lowered his swords to his sides, closing his eyes. Kirito could feel the weapons coming down on him and couldn't do a thing, but all of a sudden, the feeling stopped.

The boy opened his eyes and looked up, seeing that the sharp weapons in Nicholas the Renegade's hands had dropped him down to zero health. Its eyes rolled back into his twisted head before the giant monster exploded into millions of light blue shards, mixing in with the snow falling from the sky.

Something else was falling from the air and Kirito saw it coming down. He ran over and jumped, the fatigue he should have been feeling not even present as he caught the spherical object and held it in his hands. A large smile came over his face as he held it up and saw that it was exactly what the rumors said it was. 'Divine Stone of Returning Soul,' Kirito read the description fully and his smile stayed on his face for a few seconds before it started to tremble and the corners dropped down making his face look emotionless as he walked towards the exit of the event.

As he got away from the tree, he walked through a barrier again and kept walking straight ahead towards Klein. The Fuurinkazan all looked exhausted but as the man saw his younger friend he shouted, "Kirito!" a smile came over his face as he saw the younger boy was holding a small item. The kid wearing all black walked towards the man with the small red beard and tossed him the item. "H-hey," Klein wasn't expecting it and bobbled it in his hands.

"That's the revival item," Kirito whispered, his eyes looking dark and void of life.

"Let me see," Klein wanted to see for himself if it was true. "The target player..." he read, and then his eyes went wide, "Within ten seconds!" the other guild members who heard this sighed, knowing that it had been too good to be true.

"Use it on the next person who dies before your eyes." Kirito told him in a grim voice. Klein shivered, it having nothing to do with the freezing snow falling around them, but because of the tone of Kirito's voice. The kid looked away and started walking slowly away from the man.

_No, Kirito no, what are you thinking about?_ Klein got to his knees and scrambled towards the kid, reaching out and grabbing on to the back of his coat. "Kirito..." he whispered, "Kirito," he said it again louder, standing up. The boy wouldn't turn around and face him, _I've seen that look on many players faces, it's the look of someone who gave up. All those players died soon after. _"You, you've got to live!" he pleaded as Kirito turned his head slightly and made eye contact with his first friend in the game. "Survive until the end, please."

The man started to cry and released Kirito's shirt, his words doing nothing. He fell to his knees as Kirito whispered back to him, "See ya." He felt it would be the last time the kid ever said goodbye to him. His squad members watched in sadness as Kirito walked away and vanished through the Forest Maze.

The boy headed back up to Mugien where he went back to his inn and sat at his desk. He crossed his arms on it and put his head in them, sadness washing over him, stronger than anything he'd ever felt. It was the hope, the hope that at least one of them would be coming back, that hope was stronger than it had ever been, and then it was ripped from him, leaving an empty hole in his heart.

_Sachi, maybe you'll tell me how much you hate me when I see you. Don't worry, it won't be long, I'm heading to the level fotry-nine boss right now. _He didn't go and restock on supplies, he only armed himself with one sword, preparing to go down fighting. As he was about to get out of his seat, a small yellow light started blinking in front of him and he tapped it with one finger.

'Gift Box from Sachi,' the message stated and Kirito blanked, his mind so confused that all he could do was say, "Sachi?" in a low whisper. He was shocked and tapped the message, making it disappear and in its place, a small black double pyramid appeared in front of him. He reached towards it and tapped the small button at the top and the button glowed red as the rest of the object glowed green.

Suddenly the room got bright as a yellow light shone from inside the object, "Merry Christmas, Kirito." He gasped, her voice exactly as he remembered it. _A pre-recorded message? Did she make this months ago planning for me to open it tonight?_ "By the time you hear this, I'm guessing I'll be dead." His eyes opened even wider, "How can I explain it? Um, you see, to tell you the truth, I never really wanted to leave the Town of Beginnings. But since I fight with that attitude, I'm sure I'll end up dying one day, right?"

The black-haired boy started trembling in his seat as he stared at the object. Her voice sounded so calm, so peaceful, even as she talked about dying. _Sachi,_ "It's no one's fault. It's my own problem." She sounded like a smile had formed on her face as she spoke in a happy tone, "Kirito, ever since that night, you've been telling me night after night that I won't die. So if I ever get killed, I know that you'll really blame yourself. That's why I decided to record this." He bent his head over his desk and stared down at the object as her voice ripped away at his resolve. _She doesn't blame me?_ "Also, I know how powerful you really are. You see, a while ago I peeked accidentally. I thought really hard about why you would hide your level and fight with us, but I never did figure it out."

She laughed and he could feel himself slipping as he could imagine her face with a wide smile on it, giggling and blushing. "But when I found out how strong you really were, it made me so happy. I felt so relieved. So even if I die, you do your best to go on living okay? Live to see the end of this world, and to see why it was ever created." his thoughts about leaving and attacking the floor boss on his own vanished as he stared down at the voice recording, his whole body shaking as he clenched his fists tighter. "The reason why a weakling like me ended up here, and please find the reason why you and I met. That's what I wish." _I will fulfill your wish Sachi,_ he trembled in his seat, _I'll do everything you say._

Her voice sounded cheerful again as she smiled, "Looks like there's still plenty of time left. Alright, since it's Christmas, I'll sing you a song, okay?" Words stopped coming out of the crystal, but Kirito heard joyful humming start from the other side. It was to the tune of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.

A small smile formed on Kirito's face as he listened to the girl's sweet voice. _Sachi I, I'm so sorry. But I'll try to stop blaming myself, because it's what you wanted._ The water building up in Kirito's eyes started to spill down his face and a drop hit next to the floating crystal he was staring at. _I'm crying,_ he thought in surprise, but once he started, there was no stopping the pent up pain that had been building up for the past six months.

More tears dropped on his desk as his breathing became staggered and he choked back his tears. The humming stopped and Sachi's voice returned again, "Bye, Kirito. I'm so glad I met you, that I could be with you. Thank you," she paused, "goodbye." As she said it he thought back to the room she died in and the way her lips moved as she tried talking to him before her death. He finally realized what words she had said to him, _she was repeating the message. 'Blame,' wasn't that she blamed me, it was that she didn't blame anyone._ He'd been thinking horribly of himself for half of a year and for the first time in a while, he stopped thinking of himself as a horrible person and more like the one that Sachi described in her message. The crystal lit up a few more times and then dropped to the desk, the recording finished.

**January 1, 2024.**

Kirito was walking down the main street of Mugien, handing in a quest and about to head down a few floors when he heard a gunshot and sighed. He decided to look up at the sky but it wasn't anyone he knew. However, another gunshot followed the first and an image appeared next to that one.

People started rushing out of buildings after hearing the third shot and they stared up at the sky in horrified awe as more than ten pictures appeared in the sky before stopping. "What was that? There wasn't a scheduled boss fight today was there?" One woman asked and received no answer from the crowd.

_They're all from different guilds, some aren't even in a guild, what happened to them?_ Suddenly everyone on the street turned around and looked towards a nearby building where a screen appeared on it and a man's face showed up. The man had silver hair and a look in his eyes that sent chills down Kirito's spine.

"We are Laughing Coffin," the camera zoomed out a little and showed a bunch of men in black cloaks surrounding him as he started laughing like a maniac for all the world to see. Many of them had orange diamonds above their heads and a few had green ones. "You better watch out, we're coming for you," he cracked up and the image turned to static before disappearing.

_A new red guild? They came out of nowhere. How did they orchestrate such a synchronized attack?_ He looked up at the sky and at the fifteen faces,_ They're going to be a problem._


	5. Chapter 5

**January 13, 2024.**

After Laughing Coffin's big entrance on the first day of the new year, they only became stronger as outcasts all over Aincrad started making a ruckus to get recruited. The front lines thinned out as many of the top players were helping stop the crime wave that was sweeping through the floors. However, there were still hundreds of those in the strongest guilds and lots of solo players that remained at the top floors of Aincrad and continued to move up, if slower than before.

Kirito felt reassured that the boss fights were going well, even without his help. No players died in the clearing of the fiftieth or fifty-first floors and he had missed both. He had other concerns to tend to.

Many people were afraid to leave the cities, and even there they were in danger of being beaten senseless. No one could die in a safe zone, but the pain absorbers that were supposed to be part of the NerveGear were disabled by Kayaba. This made every floor of the zone dangerous.

Smaller parties and guilds that had been increasing their strength suddenly froze in place, worried about going out in the open just to be ambushed.

Kirito was on the twenty-fourth floor of the floating castle. He'd heard a rumor from Argo that a scout for LC was heading to Flora to gain some new members. He stood near the central square of the city, wearing a brown cloak that had a hood covering his face. The boy had been in the town for two days, he was looking for the criminals who killed a blacksmith out of the safe zone while he was getting supplies for his shop. He assumed the red guild member in the area was looking for the same guys he was, so whoever reached them first would be the victor.

Around two o'clock, Kirito saw someone in a black cloak walking down Main Street. It wasn't an uncommon thing to see, but lately, anyone who wore such garb was asking to be accused of being an LC member. A few others besides Kirito gave the figure strange looks before seeing the green icon above his or her head and relaxing.

_Their guild had some green members, don't rule him out_. The fifteen year old continued to watch, hoping he was wrong. Whoever the person was, they stopped walking and looked both ways cautiously before ducking into an alleyway._ Okay, that's suspicious_, Kirito got off of the wall he was leaning against and jogged to the shadows outside the alley, peeking his head in to see what was going on.

The man in the black hood who ran into the alley pulled his hood down and Kirito was surprised. The figure wasn't a man, but in fact a short female with shoulder-length green hair and glasses. She was talking to another cloaked figure and Kirito's skills allowed him to hear them from the distance.

The other figure had an orange mark over his head and Kirito got ready to charge when he froze, hearing part of the conversation. The girl was speaking, "I just met with him, he said to head up to Algade on the fiftieth floor. They'll be waiting there to see if we're candidates."

_So they're not Laughing Coffin? Those are the two who went after the blacksmith, _Kirito let go of the hilt of his sword over his shoulder and allowed himself to hold back and follow them the the meeting point.

"What time," the unnaturally low voice asked the girl and both Kirito and her flinched.

"Tomorrow morning at 10," she replied and the man nodded to her. Kirito saw the hood on the man's cloak turn slightly towards the main street where he was poking his head in from so he pulled back and prayed that the man didn't see him. His Enemy Detection skill told him that someone was approaching and he looked for a quick escape.

The two black cloaked figures stepped out of the alley and the man in front looked both directions, "Were you followed?" The girl's face turned fearful as she shook her head and denied the possibility.

Kirito stood with his back against the doorway he had slid into. He was pressing a hand over the woman's mouth who was about to scream when the strange kid charged into her shop. She stopped mumbling as she saw Kirito put a finger up to his mouth and whispered, "Shhh."

She nodded and he let go. His detection skill was high enough that, unlike most players, he could hear through doorways. "I promise," the woman continued, "there was no way anyone followed us. Johnny," she pleaded, tugging on his sleeve, "you can't be on the street like this, someone will see you and call in the Army."

The man laughed in a cackle that again made Kirito shiver. "The Army can't handle me," he took one last look around and then turned to the girl, "Let's go Syra."

He waited until they were definitely gone before he turned around and looked at the woman behind him. Now that he got a good look, he was stunned to see that she appeared to be only a year or two older than him. "Sorry about that," he bowed to the teenage girl. She was wearing a long red and white dress and had pink hair and eyes which he assumed she customized after the game had started.

As he wondered what she probably looked like in the real world the girl smiled at him, "It's okay? I'll forgive you if you tell me how you did that, it looked like you were listening to people through the door." She was confused at who this boy but her eyes slowly got wider as he changed the cloak he was wearing from brown to black. The new one didn't have a hood like the previous and she got a good look at his face for the first time. It looked exactly like someone who had been described to her many times by clients. "Y-y-you're..."

He extended his hand with a small smile on his face and said, "Hi, my name's Kirito."

She was hesitant to shake the beater's hand but he looked friendly enough so she took his hand. It felt warm and a feeling of ease seemed to come over her, "Hi, I'm Lizbeth, this is my shop."

He looked around the store at the blades around the room. _A blacksmith huh, oh yeah. _"Well Lizbeth," he said in a completely casual tone, "my detection skill is high enough that I could hear the conversation on the street."

"But that's impossible," she argued. "Shut doors are impossible to hear through."

"Not forever they aren't," he replied with a sly grin. "Anyway, sorry about charging in like that. I've got some important business to deal with so, I'll see you later alright?"

She tilted her head and had a blank expression, but slowly a smile came over her face and she went into her menu. Kirito couldn't see what she was doing as she moved her fingers around in the air, but as a message appeared in front of him he cocked his head, now surprised. "If we're going to see each other later, we'll need to be able to contact each other right?"

He looked at her friendly smile and then back at the friend request in front of his face. So far, he only had four people on his list, and they were all added within the first two months of the game. _A whole year since I've made a new friend. No wait, there were more on the list at one point... _He had his finger hovering over the accept button but his hand began shaking as darkness covered his face.

"Kirito?" the girl whispered and he snapped out of his trance.

The boy shook his head and smiled again, tapping his finger to the button and watching a fifth name appear on his list, right below Klein. "Yeah," he whispered, "I'm fine." The fifteen year old looked at her and smiled, "See you Lizbeth." With that, he turned and exited the shop, reminding himself to stop by there the next time he was looking for a sword.

Kirito walked around Flora for a few more hours before teleporting off of the twenty-fourth floor. He appeared in Algade, the second largest city in the entire game so far, right after the Town of Beginnings. He still had twelve hours before the meeting was set to start and he still had to find its exact location.

While he walked around the city, even in the dark, he had to admit it was beautiful. The buildings weren't spectacular like some of the other cities on the lower floors, but the ones here looked a lot more vibrant and affordable, plus the stores on the streets were filling up with players from lower floors and it was quickly becoming a great place to live.

_I should make this my base, traveling from floor forty-one everyday to fight monsters is getting tedious. _As he thought about it and looked at an inn that had a glowing sign, 'Open Rooms,' he saw a man step out of the front door and Kirito pretended not to notice the black cloak that covered his or her face.

_Is that Johnny, or is it Syra? _He tried making out the person by their height but started to think that it wasn't either of them as he was easily over a foot taller than the two he'd seen yesterday. The streets were pretty empty this late at night, but not desolate enough that Kirito stood out standing in front of an inn. They were on the second highest floor so he could be any one of hundreds that were out fighting on the front lines during the day and were coming back for the night.

He kept his eyes at the signs on the inn, but made sure he could see the man in front of the building out of the corner of his eye.

This taller figure looked straight at Kirito and the boy made no movements to show that he noticed he was being watched. The man seemed to think he was fine and started walking down the side of the street. Kirito didn't turn until the man was a good distance away and then he went inside the inn. A small bribe was all it took to get the NPC innkeeper to talk. The virtual man had a smirk on his face as Kirito transferred two hundred Col to him.

"Man didn't give his name, but he's been here for two days. Give me another two hundred and I'll tell you which room and give you the extra key." The man with a black mohawk and nose ring grinned like he was being a smart haggler.

Kirito could have afforded the payment, but he was tired of the innkeeper's games. He reached forwards and pulled the man by the collar towards him and whispered in a menacing voice. "You just gave away confidential player information, I could have you arrested right now if I wanted. Now give me what I want," Kirito released him and the man responded by stumbling back.

He had to hand it to Kayaba, he made the game realistic. The owner of the building stuttered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, "Th-third floor, r-room 308." The key was transferred to Kirito who scowled at the man, making him cower back.

_ Less experienced players would have wasted their money there. _He chuckled to himself as he went upstairs and found the room he was given the key to. He went inside and looked around the room, it didn't look checked out of yet, there was a small diamond sitting on the desk next to the bed. _Please be what I think you are_, he walked over and grabbed the box.

Kirito tapped on it and it was a voice recording. _Sloppy, _he thought as he pressed the play button on it_, is this guy really a member of LC... or could he have wanted me to find this? No... no he definitely didn't want me finding this. _The boy opened his menu and called up Klein, not hearing a response for several seconds as it continued to ring.

"Kirito?" a gruff voice asked. The man on the line sounded tired and Kirito explained fast. "I don't know how reliable that information is, and I'm not with my guild right now. It's going to take me a while to get a strong party together."

"Either way, I'm heading in at 8, whether or not you're there." Kirito ended the call and whispered, "Please come Klein." He had no idea how many LC members were going to be at the meeting but it was going to be hard to take them all on by himself. _If we can find and capture a member of LC, they'll lose their reputation. People won't be as afraid when they learn that these mysterious players are just as vulnerable as everyone else._

Kirito left the inn, giving the innkeeper one last glare before heading out. He knew it was stupid to get angry at an NPC, since it was just a part of the game, but they seemed just like players except for the missing cursor above their heads.

The city was now almost completely empty as Kirito went down the empty alleys and across the wide streets. Everyone was inside sleeping, but he knew he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. The boy got to the entrance of the giant city and stopped. Leaving the safe zone and going out in the wild was risky, but doing so by himself, while he targeted a strong red guild was much riskier.

He took a deep breath and left the city, walking around the edge of the safe zone until he saw a huge lake towards the east side of Algade. There was a path leading from the city down to the docks but Kirito stayed off of it and walked through the tall grass.

Only a few monsters tried to attack him on his way but he was able to kill them all in one strike using powerful sword skills. He finally got close to the docks and put on a camouflage outfit he had in his inventory. Lying in wait in the grass, not even the nearby monsters could see Kirito as he stared at the road from Algade.

There were still three hours until the supposed meeting was going to start but Kirito stayed perfectly still in the grass that entire time. When it got to 7:45 A.M., two cloaked figures started coming down the path and Kirito remained still as he darted his eyes over and watched them descend. When he looked back towards the dock, his eyes opened wide as three men came out of the water and pulled themselves up.

He was a good distance away from the area the group convened, but he was still able to hear them if he focused enough. The first voice he heard was nervous and he recognized it as the girl with the glasses, Syra. She still had her hood up and was talking with the others frantically, "It's light out already! Let's get this started," she looked around, "Shouldn't we be somewhere more hidden?"

The three wet people looked at each other and then back at the other two. "I assume you are Johnny Black?" They looked specifically at the figure who wasn't speaking.

"That would be me," the man who hadn't spoke yet replied to the tallest of the three. The man who had asked the question was the one whose room Kirito had infiltrated and it looked like he was leading the recruitment. The voice of the man they called Johnny was unnatural and changed its pitch throughout his sentence. "Are we getting started or what?"

"Just waiting on the leader," the tall man replied.

_The leader is coming here?! I can finish off LC, freeing the world from their fear tactics. _There had always been a few red guilds filled with criminal-class players, but this was the first time they operated openly. Most others used the underground markets and hid from the rest of Aincrad's populace. This guild seemed intent on causing as much chaos and strife as possible on the other hand.

As if summoned by their voices, a fourth cloaked man appeared behind the other three. Kirito hadn't even seen him climb out of the water and on to the dock, but he must have. "PoH," the new man said as he walked towards the two in front of him.

"Johnny Black," was the reply and the leader stuck out a hand as the man who killed the blacksmith walked towards the evil guild. The woman next to him seemed unsure, but Johnny shook the man's hand and smirked, "It's going to be craz-yyy fun killing with you." _He sounds nuts._

The man who called himself PoH could barely be seen under his cloak, but Kirito could see a smile form on the man's lips. "You're not a member just yet," the new recruit seemed like he didn't care.

"Whatever the test, I'll do it in a flash," the man cackled and paced from foot to foot. Kirito stared at him in shock, _Is this really a brutal killer? He's acting more like a child each minute he's away from civilization._

"Kill that woman behind you," PoH said the words and the fifteen year old in the bushes flinched.

The green haired girl thought she must have heard wrong and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "C-can you repeat that?"

"No need," Johnny said, turning to her and pulling his hood down. Kirito was expecting to finally see who the man under the mask was... only to see a paper bag covering the man's face with two eyeholes. He grabbed at the bottom of the bag and slowly lifted it up and over. _Oh my God, _half the people watching the scene gasped as they saw his face.

The man was bald and had scars on the top of his head. He didn't look very old, probably around thirty, but the burnt skin and scars all over his face indicated he had still been through some shit in his days. He looked Syra in the eyes and started walking towards her. In a soft voice he started, "You know, I don't think you've ever seen me with my bag off." The bag man spoke to the girl with a hint of compassion and Kirito thought that maybe he was going to turn on the LC members which would mean he'd have backup even if Klein didn't show. "There's been something I've wanted to tell you since we met over a year ago."

The girl's face flushed red and she seemed forget the situation she was in currently. "Oh Johnny," she started, looking at him in wonder. His voice sounded so calm and collected compared to a minute before and this was truly a man who could hide his personality.

He moved closer to her and smiled, "You're an annoying bitch," her smile faltered and her eyes grew wide as he pulled out a long, curved knife with a serrated edge.

_I can't wait any longer,_ Kirito jumped out of the grass and started sprinting towards the path where Johnny was moving in for the kill. Syra dropped to the ground, too shocked to try and run away and just stared at the knife, glistening in the rising sunlight.

"Who the fuck is that?" one of the three hooded figures on the dock shouted. The leader PoH was already watching the new man who was sprinting towards them with interest.

"Who cares!" Johnny shouted as he brought his knife down at his companion for the last year's throat. As the knife was about to connect with flesh, a smaller white knife collided with his black and red one, knocking it out of his hands and into the air. Now Johnny did care about the man running towards him, because if he was able to throw a knife from that distance and hit his mark, he had to be good. The man put his bag back over his head and jumped into the air, catching his knife on its downwards arc.

"Laughing Coffin!" the fifteen year old growled in a loud voice. He sprinted right over to the knocked down girl and stood between her and the spot where Johnny Black landed. The man with a bag over his face snickered and spun the knife around in his hand, twirling it between his fingers.

The boy was amazed he hit his mark as his throwing knife skill was not one of his impressive stats. _I only picked that as a side skill off of my branch tree, it must be my heightened dexterity that allowed the blade to connect._ He put his hand on the hilt of his sword and drew it from the sheath on his back. It was a new weapon he'd found from a rare drop, called the Elucidator. The sword was all black, including the hilt, only the edges of the blade were silver and it was the most powerful weapon he'd found in the game so far.

"Who is this runt?" the tallest of the LC members asked with a snarl as he walked off of the dock and past his master. PoH watched his member walk by without a word, but he looked to be watching with interest.

"I'm the one who found the recording you left out on your desk," the tall man froze and the leader turned towards him.

"B-but that's impossible, you shouldn't have been able to get in my room." The man tried to regain his composure, _I knew I should have tossed an item to make room for it, that was stupid. I just didn't think anyone was going to do something like this._

"You should have been more careful," Kirito said and got into a fighting stance, holding his sword at his side. He had the blade held horizontal to his body, right below the waist so it looked like his first strike was going to be an uppercut, however, he had trained himself to be able to attack from any side while always starting off in that stance. "Now come quietly, or I'll be forced to kill you," he announced, looking as threatening as he could muster.

The man took a step back as he looked at the stance Kirito was in, "You? What is a beater doing here?" **Swish.** The man faltered at the end of his sentence and the fifteen year old's eyes grew wide. The cloaked figure's hood fell off and Kirito saw that the man looked normal, fair skin, short black hair, a little stubble on his chin. He looked down, and saw a long silver blade sticking out the front of his chest.

"You've made three very big mistakes today Freilich," PoH stated from behind the man he just shoved his sword through. "First, you led someone from the front lines here, the Black Knight no less." The way he said it, he seemed like a scolding parent but parents didn't normally impale their children if they did something wrong.

"M-master, please," the man called Freilich grabbed the sword sticking through him and tried to hold it as he felt it getting wiggled around. His health bar was steadily declining and was all the way down to half-health already.

"The second thing you did was step back from an enemy who was facing you, that brings dishonor to Laughing Coffin, and tarnishes our name." In one swoop, PoH ripped the sword from the man's chest and he fell, coughing and landing on his knees.

"Thirdly," the leader lifted his sword with both hands and slammed the point down right into the top of his subordinates head. The man's face froze in pain for a second before he exploded into blue shards and vanished, "you walked in front of me when I was about to speak." Kirito couldn't believe the man had just been killed for such a stupid reason, but the leader finally looked up and spoke, seeming to forget all about the man he'd killed.

A gunshot fired and the sky lit up with the picture of a man with LC's symbol on the bottom left. It was a black coffin with a white outline, and a white face and arm designed on it. The face had a wicked smile on it so that even the guild symbol showed they were an insane group. "Shit, that's going to send a message," one of the two remaining men on the dock said.

"It is of little importance," the leader said with a wave of his hand. "Too many people are hiding in the cities anyway, we can't continue our fun like this anyway." The man turned to Johnny Black who was still staring at Kirito with eyes glinting of hatred. "My new friend, welcome," Johnny held up a hand stopping the leader from speaking which made the man in charge twitch in anger.

"I'm not a member yet," the man with the bag on his head spoke as he pulled the hood of his cloak over himself. This made PoH confused for a split second before he turned and saw the cowering girl still on the floor. "I haven't completed my _initiation,_" Johnny started walking towards Kirito, cracking his neck to either side as he did.

The Laughing Coffin members decided not to intervene and just watched as the man approached Kirito. "Syyy-raaa," he called out in a playful tone. The girl behind Kirito squirmed and let out a quiet cry at the sound of her name, "Syyy-raaaaaa, I'm coming for you." The woman began to cry and Kirito readied his sword.

Before the man could attack him, he froze and looked over Kirito's shoulder up the path to where a party of six was charging down from Algade. "Kirito!" the boy heard the voice right when he was wondering what his opponent was looking at. _Klein,_ he thought with a smile before getting ready to go on the offensive.

"Enough," the leader of LC called out to the bag faced man, "you have proven yourself worthy to join us. Now come, we are leaving this place."

Kirito saw the man in front of him look down a little and then back up to him. "I'll get you one of these days kid," the man looked back down and reached out a finger, tapping in the air. _Crap,_ the boy thought as a LC symbol appeared next to the man's health bar and he jumped backwards, landing between the other two members on the dock. "So, where are we going?" the man asked excitedly.

Neither of the other two responded as PoH walked backwards, still holding the blade he'd used to kill his former member in his hands. Kirito walked towards him with each step the man walked back, and he could see in his peripheral vision that three men ran up on either side of him. They were all wearing red and the one directly on his right was panting hard, "Made it, just in, time," Klein took a deep breath and smiled at the group in front of him. "Laughing Coffin," he raised his katana and his men all had their weapons ready as well.

"Give yourselves up," Kirito stated as their whole group took another step towards the dock. The red guild members had nowhere to run with their backs against the water and their fronts to the enemies.

"Plan Siren," the leader stated as he pulled out a blue crystal. _That won't work, I can hear you no matter how quietly you say where you're teleporting._ "Oswald, you're up," one of the men next to him nodded and stepped forwards.

The man pulled down his hood and he had long, straight blonde hair going all the way back. Kirito couldn't see the end of it as the ends went down into his cloak. The man opened his mouth and the fighters in front of him were confused as he didn't even raise a weapon. "LALALALALALALALALALALALA," Kirito, Klein, and the other Fuurinkazan winced as the shouting was loud enough to hurt their eardrums. The man in front of them continued to scream and the black-haired kid saw one of the men behind him disappear.

_I can't hear where they're going, to have a contingency plan like this, do they just plan on leaving Oswald here for us?_ The leader whispered something to Johnny Black and Kirito shouted to his friends almost as loud as the other man was screaming, "We have to shut him up and find where they're going!"

"LALALALALALALALA," the group of top-notch fighters started running forwards as the man on the dock pulled out a sword, not once stopping his shouts. Before they could reach the wooden surface, the two men behind him lit up blue and vanished without a trace.

"Shut up!" Klein shouted as he slammed his katana into the other man's sword and knocked it out of his hands. Oswald reached into his cloak and pulled out a blue crystal of his own, _he's probably going to go to a different floor than his comrades to throw us off._ As the man opened his mouth, Klein slashed his sword through the blue object and it shattered into blue shards. "Oh no you don't, you're going to spill everything you know about your guild, and then you are going to the Black Iron Palace."

The first floor prison was taken over by the Army and used for their headquarters, but it was also used as their prison where they brought any orange players they could find. At the mention of the prison, the man called Oswald started to laugh, Klein held his sword up and put it in front of the LC member's neck. "What's so funny?"

The man smiled at the group in front of him and said, "The Army tortures their prisoners, and I'm sure you want to know where the rest of Laughing Coffin is don't you. Hahaha," the man gulped and Kirito was confused at why he was taking this in such a calm manner.

That was when he realized what was about to happen, "Klein, put down your sword!" The boy shouted it at his older friend but the samurai didn't move fast enough. Oswald slammed his neck forwards as fast as he could and the sword went straight through his throat.

Klein let go of his sword in shock, but it remained floating in the air as the LC member started laughing hysterically. "Long live Laughing..." the man's sentence was cut short as his health bar reached zero and he died. The red haired samurai stared at the blue shapes as they fell from the air in front of him and his sword dropped to the ground, now having nothing to hold it up. He began shaking, realizing what he'd just done, _I killed him._

"He killed himself," the man jumped at hearing the voice right behind him. He turned his head slightly and saw Kirito reach up and put a hand on his shoulder.

_He's right, it was my sword, but his actions that ended his life,_ Klein wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded. He bent down and picked up his sword as a gunshot fired in the air and they all looked up to see Oswald's face appear next to Freilich's. "That was some real dedication to his guild, it borders on fanaticism."

"I don't think he was a fanatic," Kirito corrected the man. "He just knew that it was between getting caught and tortured until he gave up his guild, or die with whatever secrets he still had hidden in his mind. It's a warped kind of honor," the black haired kid looked up at the sky and both men had LC marks in the bottom left of their pictures. "Even though we weren't able to deal a finishing blow on them, today marks the first time an LC member was killed."

One of Klein's guild members nodded and spoke, "Now, they are just one in many red guilds. What was special about them is now gone, the world will be getting back to normal now."

"I don't know if that's really a good thing," the youngest one there stated. They all looked at him confused and he continued, "People were staying in the safety of the cities, now that they feel LC isn't as much of a threat..."

"Laughing Coffin and all the other red guilds will have a lot more targets," Klein finished and the others all looked crestfallen that they weren't really able to deal a blow at all.

"Next time," Kirito started, clenching his fists. His voice was almost a whisper, "Next time we need to finish this." _That man, PoH, he didn't seem too worried, even after realizing who I was. For him to have remained calm in that situation, he must be insanely strong. Not to mention all the other members of their guild, they are truly the strongest red guild in this world._

"Goodbye Klein," Kirito said and started walking back towards the city. He turned back and smiled at the man watching him leave, "Thanks for showing up."

The last time Kirito said 'goodbye' to him, Klein had thought he would never see the kid again. _I don't know what happened between Christmas and now, but whatever it was had a huge positive impact on you Kirito._ The man held up a big thumbs up right his right hand and shouted, "Anytime my friend!"

**February 17, 2024.**

Kirito was standing in the square of the fifty-fifth floor, looking around at everyone gathered for the boss-clearing meeting. _A lot more people want to help clear the 55th, wonder how they'll decide who goes._ The floor fifty-four boss was the first one he'd helped defeat in over a month, as he was able to turn his focus away from the red guilds and back to the front lines. He was ready to go in back at the fifty-third, but when he saw the girl who was leading the party, he made sure to avoid the group at all costs.

To make up for the time he took off, Kirito spent twice as long fighting in the field each day, giving himself very little time for anything else, like sleeping, or eating. Heathcliff was starting to become a legend around Aincrad and while spending time on the lower floors, Kirito had heard him be referred to by his epithet, "The Strongest Man in SAO."

While he would have loved to disagree with them, he had no idea what level the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath was. He'd also seen the man fight on several occasions and had not once seen his health drop into the yellow.

"Please, someone!" Kirito heard shouting coming from the other side of the square. He started running over but saw that many other players were walking away or ignoring the shouts. "Avenge them please," he heard the calls and got close enough that he could see a man on his knees, pulling at the cloak of a DDA member. "They killed every one of my friends. My whole guild, killed by PKers," the man he was talking to looked sympathetic but just apologized and shrugged the crying man's hand off of his cloak. The assault team's members who were watching all moved away to wait for the meeting to start at a different part of the sqaure.

The man fell, his head hitting the ground as tears dropped and landed on the pavement. He started slamming his fists on the ground and making the immortal object warning appear over and over again. _His whole guild..._ Kirito felt his legs start moving on their own until he stood right above the man. "I'll avenge them," the boy stated, darkness covering his face. _I know exactly how he feels,_ He put a hand on the sobbing man's shoulder and asked, "What guild did this?"

The man stopped his sobs to look up and recognized who the boy was instantly, "T-Titan's Hand," he composed himself in front of such an infamous player, "we were fighting mobs on the thrity-third floor when they attacked. They killed every single one of my four friends before my eyes. Please..." he begged.

"Don't worry," Kirito gripped the hilt of his sword with his right hand, "I'll make them pay."

He turned and started walking but felt a hand on the back of his Cloak of Midnight. "No," he turned and saw the man shaking his head, tears still coming out of his eyes. "Don't kill them," Kirito's mouth opened a little in shock, "then we won't be any better than they are. Send them to prison, this I ask of you."

For a long time, Kirito pondered the man's request. Finally he nodded, "If you wish it, I will listen. Tell me everything you know about this guild."

**A/n Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review below telling me what you think or any questions you have. Next time on SAOE, Silica!**

Delta Marauder

Damn good chapter if I say so myself. Keep up the fantastic work.

**Thank you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**February 21, 2024.**

_They have to be in this town, there's no where left for them to hide._

"Come on man, get away from the door," the short, fat man pleaded. He ran a hand through his cropped black haired and backed farther from the front door.

"Do you really think he's still after us," the other guy asked in a whisper. They both jumped in fright as a loud crashing sound was heard nearby. Both thought at the same time, _IT'S HIM!_

"Richi, get away from the door," the pudgy man said as he ran behind the counter of the empty shop. He crouched down and poked his head over the counter, but his friend was poking his head out from behind the curtains and looking through the glass. "I knew we shouldn't have spent all our money at the tavern, now we have no crystals and we're trapped in this god-forsaken town." The thirty-third floor town they were in was not protected by a safe zone and could barely be called a town by the number of buildings in it. Many of the NPCs were hostile if you said the wrong thing and PKing was allowed, although made illegal by the death game.

"No wait, I think he's gone," the thin man had sweat coming down the sides of his face and he turned around with a more calm voice than his face implied. "We're safe," the second he said it, the glass of the window shattered and a hand flew through it, grabbing Richi by the collar of his orange cloak and pulling him through the broken window. "Pauli!" The man screamed as he was torn from the building and then the man inside saw a bright blue flash of light from outside the window and his heart skipped a beat.

The man inside the building curled up into a ball behind the counter and pulled his face down into his knees. _Oh my God, oh my God, he killed Richi!_ The door to the shop opened and the bell jingled making Pauli freeze, his body no longer able to even tremble in fear.

Loud footsteps approached the counter and the man curled up further, trying to make himself invisible. Finally the steps stopped and the man held his breath, slowly lifting his head from between his knees and looking up. His skin turned pale white as he saw the figure towering in front of him. "N-n-no, get away from me!" the man scrambled backwards on his butt until his back hit the wall and the person in front of him walked closer. The dark black cloak of the man in front of Pauli made him seem like a monster in the darkness of the empty shop at midnight.

He stopped when he was inches in front of the pathetic man and leaned his head down, until it was right above the orange indicator on top of Pauli's head. "Tell me," he said in a menacing voice, "where is your leader? Where is Rosalia?" Kirito put as much hate into his tone as possible and if people still had the need to excrete, (which they didn't in the game), the man would have pissed himself on the spot.

"I'll tell you a-anything, just please... Don't kill me!" the man held up his hands so his palms were together and looked up at the teenager in terror.

"Where is she?!" Kirito demanded again, not showing to have heard the man's request at all. He held up his black sword, the Elucidator, and moved it closer to the man's left leg.

The Titan's Hand member started to squirm and pull his leg back as he felt the cold metal press against it. "She's on the thrity-fifth floor, partying with a group of losers we're going to rob at the end of the week. Please, that's all I know," the man felt Kirito's blade press against his skin again and he was twisting the point, making the man's health decrease a small bit. "Oh God, stop it," Kirito stopped applying pressure, _seems that's all he knows. Pauli Redson, suspected of double homicide on the twelfth floor, you're fate has been sealed. If you had been paying closer attention, you would have known your friend wasn't dead because there was no gunshot._ The boy cracked a smile as he grabbed onto the man in front of him and pulled out the blue teleporter.

Before Pauli even had time to react, the insane kid in front of him called out, "Teleport: Black Iron Palace." The fat man's eyes went wide as a blue light surrounded them both and they vanished, reappearing in a cold room where a group of Army soldiers were holding Richi with his arms behind his back.

"Richi, you're alive?!" Pauli questioned scrambling to his feet and looking around at all the Army guild members around him. "Oh... shit," he turned back to Kirito but the boy held out a different, smaller blue crystal than the one he'd used to transport them to the castle.

With the normal tp crystal, Kirito announced, "Teleport: Mishe." The whole room watched as the man disappeared.

Pauli looked around as the Army soldiers all smirked at him and cracked their knuckles. "I give up," he held out his hands in surrender.

**February 23, 2024.**

_I've been on floor 35 for two days, could Pauli cave given me wrong information. No, he was too scared, she must be on this floor._ The fifteen year old walked through the forest, not even fighting the occasional monster as they gave him such little EXP at his level. _This is really taking a lot of time off of my training... I promised that man I'd bring this guild to justice._ He got rid of any doubts in his mind and continued marching through the woods.

After walking until darkness fell over Aincrad, Kirito heard a scream come from the woods to the right of him. He started sprinting in that direction, maneuvering between trees and jumping over obstacles. _Remember what happened last time you ran after someone who was screaming, it was Sachi,_ the sudden thought made him lose focus and he tripped over a root sticking out of the ground. _That was a good thing,_ he reminded himself, _the best thing that's ever happened to me in this game._ Kirito got up and continued running, even faster than before.

He could finally see a person through the trees and he was almost there. Her health was down in the red and there were three gorilla beasts in front of her, each holding weapons. The one in front had a club and swung it down towards the girl, _I'm too late,_ he thought as he sprinted past another tree. His steps faltered as a small blue dragon flew in front of the club and took the brunt of the attack for the girl. Her terrified expression turned to one of sorrow and she knelt down towards the beast, "Pina, Pina, PINA NO!" It glowed for a few seconds and then vanished in a hundred shards of green light.

The one who killed the girl's friend walked towards her followed by his two fellow monsters. She looked up, too scared to scream and started to cry as she watched the monster raise its weapon above its head. Her tears froze in her eyes, unable to fall as confusion took over every other emotion. First, the monster behind the one in front on the left exploded, followed by the one on the right. Then the one about to kill her shattered into a million pieces and rained down over her.

Standing in the place of the largest monster, was a teen a few years older than her. She stared at him and his glowing blue sword before it stopped and she could see the silver weapon that he swung each direction and then sheathed behind his back. "Pina," she looked away from the boy and back down at the feather, the only thing remaining from her friend. "Don't leave me alone..."

_It's my fault, _the black haired boy behind her stared at the crying girl with pigtails. _If I hadn't hesitated, if I didn't trip on my way here, her friend would still be alive. She called it Pina, _"You're a beast tamer?" He looked down a little, ashamed in himself, "I'm sorry, I wasn't able to save your friend."

"No, it was stupid of me. For thinking that I could make it through the forest on my own, for being so arrogant!" Kirito froze, _she's just like... I can't let her live with this guilt._ "Thank you so much for saving me," she turned with tears in her eyes and Kirito started to walk closer to her.

He looked down at the feather and saw a bright blue glow to it, "Does that feather happen to have an item name?" _Please, be what I think you are._ The menu screen appeared and it read out, 'Pina's Heart.' Instead of the intended effect, this just made the girl cry harder than before, she was holding the heart of her dear friend. Kirito was happy about it however and said, "Don't cry. If Pina's heart is still here, there's a chance you can revive it."

The tears in the young girl's eyes vanished and she looked the boy in the eyes, "R-really?" He nodded with a smile and explained how they could go any bring her friend back to life. She smiled at the end of his explanation and then her eyes grew watery again as she looked down, "Floor forty-seven," she whispered.

_That's right, she couldn't beat the medium level monsters here on 35, of course she'd be afraid to go to 47, epecially with her beast gone. A beast tamer without her beast is just asking to be killed. _The boy scratched the back of his neck and said, "If you cover my expenses, I'd be glad to go for you. The beast's master has to be there though, or the flowers won't bloom." She seemed to be reluctant to accept his help, but when he told her there was a three day time limit to when Pina would no longer be revivable, she gratefully accepted his offer.

_I could have covered my own expenses, but..._ he didn't want to seem to be a soft guy. First he went down to this floor solely on the whim of a crying man, and now he was off doing something completely different because of a crying girl. _Don't forget why you're here. Titan's Hand must be destroyed._

"Don't worry, we have three days," he opened up his menu and stood up straight. He began swiping through it faster than the girl could follow his movements and a screen appeared in front of her. "This equipment should be good for a boost of five or six levels." The trade window in front of the girl made her drop her jaw a few inches, _who is he?_

"Why would you do all this for me?" he turned and looked at the cute expression on her face.

_It's not the only reason but it is true,_ "If you promise not to laugh, I'll tell you." She nodded and accepted so he continued while avoiding eye contact. He held a hand over his face but kept a small space between his fingers so he could see her reaction, "It's because well, you look like my sister."

She started giggling, and then full on laughing and it had the intended effect on her. _Glad her spirits are raised,_ he pretended to turn angrily, upset that she laughed when she said she wouldn't. "I'm sorry," she wiped the last tear from her eye and had a smile on her face now. She tried to pay him for the armor and weapons he traded her, but Kirito shut down the trade before she could.

"No, it's okay. It's not like this doesn't overlap with my reason for coming here." _While I'm with her, I can keep searching for the red guild. They won't avoid me as much if I travel with a weaker player, they'll probably assume I'm only as strong as she is._

"I-I'm Silica," she stated and held out a hand.

"I'm Kirito. For the time being, we'll be working together." They both smiled and then headed back to Mishe, the largest town on the thrity-fifth floor.

It was already well into the night, but the town was still bustling with people. As the new party of two walked down the street, a pair of boys ran over to Silica and started talking to her. Kirito watched as she turned them down and said she was partying with him, which made him feel a bit awkward. However, _Good, if she's popular, more people probably know about her level of strength, which means she's a perfect target for a guild like Titan's Hand._

They were walking down Main Street and Silica was talking about how her reputation went to her head, which is why she allowed Pina to get killed. She seemed very down on herself, but Kirito knew better than anyone that trying to console someone like that would usually only make them feel worse. He just turned and put a hand on top of her head, "It's okay. We'll make it in time." She smiled and nodded, the boy in front of her giving her hope.

"Hey Kirito," she asked as they kept walking, "Where's your home?"

"On floor fifty," _ooh, that's a problem,_ "It's a hassle, so I guess I'll stay here tonight too." The two of them continued walking towards the large inn in front of them.

When they were only a small distance off, a shrill voice called from a different part of the street. "Well, if it isn't Silica," Kirito looked at the small girl's expression and could tell she didn't like the woman who was approaching them. "So, you managed to make it out of the forest!" The boy turned his head in the woman's direction and his eyes caught the bottom of her dress, along with the end of the weapon she was holding. His eyes went wide as he started raising his head, looking at the rest of her body, _It couldn't be._ "How nice for you!" she called out in a condescending tone.

The boy felt the girl next to him twitch and he looked down at her, "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing," she told him but he could tell the smile she flashed was fake and he turned back to the woman. Her armore, her weapon, her earings, hair, and eyes, _they all match._

"What happened to that lizard? Could it be that..." the woman said in a mocking tone, pushing her head forwards.

"Pina died," the little girl interrupted her. "But I'm bringing her back to life, no matter what!"

"Meaning that your planning to go to the Hill of Memories. At your level, will you be able to clear it?" The woman with red hair pulled back in a ponytail asked.

"Of course she will, it's really not that hard a level to beat," the woman looked at Kirito in mock pity. She said he was another one of the admirers, seduced by the young girl next to him. _So that's what she thinks of those two weirdos on the other side of town. Can't say I disagree, but..._

"You don't look particularly strong to me." The woman continued and inner Kirito smirked, _that's because I've equipped my weaker armor and sword, so that people like you will think I am weak. Looks like you've been fooled,_ he smiled at the girl next to him and they walked away, going into the inn and getting two rooms.

They went downstairs and sat at a table where Kirito tried to make the girl feel better. He said that some people in MMOs were just being mean because it wasn't real life and they could do what they want. "Some enjoy playing as villains," he continued to explain, "see how our cursors are green?" The girl looked at him and around the room at all the other green players. "If you commit a crime, your cursor will turn orange. Among them are Player Killers, we call those red players."

"Murderers, no way!" _What world have you been living in?_ The girl was so innocent, so naive that it made him not want to involve her in his mission. He already felt he was on the brink of finishing and there was just a little more he had to find out.

"In a normal game, they could've had fun playing as the bad guys, but Sword Art Online is different." She looked into his eyes and saw them start to grow detatched as he clenched the cup in his hands harder. "This game isn't about having fun."

"Kirito-san," the girl whispered and he stopped his rant looking up at her apologetically. He looked sad and she didn't know what to do so she shouted, "You're a good person Kirito-san!" She jumped out of her seat and grabbed his hands that were no longer shaking, "You saved me after all!"

He looked at her in surprised and then smiled, "It seems like you've cheered me up instead," he'd gone in trying to help her yet she could see the hidden darkness behind his eyes. "Thanks, Silica," her face grew red and she backed away yelling to the waitress about not bringing them the cheesecake yet.

That night, Kirito went into the girl's room to tell her about the details of floor 47. They were only in there for a few minutes with him showing her the route on a large hologram, when his eyes darted to the door and his smile disappeared. He charged at the entrance and threw it open, "Who's there!?" he shouted and saw a figure sprint down the hall and jump down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Silica asked as she hid behind the boy. He was wearing a black cloak with blue markings on the shoulders, while she only had on pajamas.

"Someone was eavesdropping on us," he responded, _I didn't think Titan's Hand would be capable..._

"B-but, unless there's a knock, you can't hear voices through a door," she tried to explain to the boy. They went back inside the room and he closed the door tight behind them.

"It's different if your detection skill is high enough, but hardly any people have raised their level that high." _What was that person planning on doing? Now that I think about it, there's no way one of their members could have heard us through the door. What we're they going to do, crack the door open and listen to us?_ A small smile came over his face, this guild was making too many mistakes.

"Why would they want to eavesdrop on us?" Silica asked him.

He turned back towards the door, _If I'm right, then it's because they want to know when we're leaving. That way, they can kill us out of the safe zone._ He finished briefing the girl on the details of the meeting and then he went back to his own room next door.

A few hours later, Silica was sitting in bed awake and thinking about her friend when she heard shouting in the room next to hers. She went over to the closed door and tried to listen, but from what she already knew, it should have been impossible to hear anything. _Must just be my imagination,_ she turned from the door and took a step towards her bed. That was as far as she got before she spun and grabbed the doorknob, not waiting a second to pull the door open a creak and peek her head through the crack.

"No, no!" she watched with bug eyes as Kirito squirmed in his sleep, rolling back and forth on his blankets. "Ducker, run, run!" _I shouldn't be seeing this,_ the girl tried closing the door but she just couldn't pry her eyes away. "Keita, don't do it, please," the boy on his bed extended and arm into the air like he was grabbing at something but his arm just fell back to the bed.

"Kirito," she thought that maybe she should wake him up and opened the door a little more but the boy stopped moving. _Maybe the nightmare is over,_ Silica hoped.

"Sachi," the boy whispered. "SACHI!" Silica panicked as he shot out of bed, panting like crazy. She shut the door fast, but quietly, and then ran to her bed and threw the covers over herself.

_Whoa, that was the first nightmare I had in a while,_ Kirito calmed himself down and smiled. He focused on the message Sachi left him on Christmas and his worries seemed to vanish as he was able to lie back down and fall asleep.

The next day, they went to floor forty-seven and started their journey to the field dungeon. The flower that would bring Silica's pet back to life could be found there and she was excited. She was also a bit flustered as she saw all the couples wandering around in the flower fields flirting with each other and she was walking alone with Kirito. _Should I mention last night? No,_ she shook her head and followed him. Once they got away from the majority of people and finally neared the entrance the boy held out a blue crystal.

"What's that?" the girl asked. Considering how many simple questions she asked him already, he was somewhat expecting this, especially since she didn't warp away when the gorillas were attacking her.

"If anything unexpected comes up and I tell you to teleport away, use this crystal to jump to any town." He looked at her with a serious expression and she finally accepted the expensive object that she'd never seen before. "Okay let's get going," he said with a smile and walked to the other side of the bridge, "If we take this path, it will lead us to the Hill of Memories."

On their journey, they only fought a few plant mobs. Thanks to Kirito's strengthened weapons and armor, Silica was able to defeat the monsters, some of which were at higher levels than her. They continued to march after defeating a pair of monsters with relative ease. "Kirito," she whispered, breaking the long-held silence, "could I ask you about your sister?"

"Why now all of a sudden?" he questioned.

"You said I look like her remember?" she told him and he mentally slapped himself for forgetting. _She does look like Sugu, a little,_ "I know it's impolite to ask about the real world. Do you mind?"

To show that he didn't, he went right on to talking about her, "I called her my little sister, but she's actually my cousin." The thirteen year old was surprised by this and took in a short breath, "We grew up together since she was born, so I'm sure she doesn't know. Maybe that's why," he paused as if wondering whether he should keep going but decided for it, "I've been distancing myself from her." He told her a story about how his sister worked twice as hard at Kendo so that Kirito wouldn't have to. Their grandfather was strict and beat him when he said he didn't want to do it any more, but once she stepped in to help him, the old man stopped hitting him.

They went and defeated another monster, he allowed Silica to finish it off and he was surprised to see a screen that said she leveled from forty four to forty five. _I thought she was lower than that,_ she looked at him and wanted him to say more about his sister so he continued, "After that, she trained really hard and made it to nationals."

"That's amazing!" Silica said but her smile faded as he didn't seem as excited about it.

"I always felt bad about it. She may resent me because she had to give up what she really wanted to do. So helping you feels like a way to make amends to my sister," _I'm sorry Sugu, when I get back things will be different._

"I don't think that your sister ever hated you. No one could work that hard for something they don't even like. She must really love kendo." She ran in front of him and gave him a warm smile which really did cheer him up.

_She really is just like Sugu. Her pet is the one who died yet,_ "You've been comforting me all this time. Maybe you're right, I hope so," _I guess Sugu would have quit if she didn't like it, maybe..._ before he could ponder the thought any longer, a huge plant monster rose up out of the ground and wrapped its tentacles around Silica. He jumped up the monster and killed it in one stroke, resting his sword over his shoulder when he finished.

They finally reached the top of the hill and Silica sprinted towards the shrine in the center. When she got there, the system seemed to recognize her as a beast tamer and sprouted a flower. "Go on, take it," Kirito urged and the girl plucked it from its stem, placing it in her inventory.

"This will bring Pina back to life won't it?" her smile was so cute and he nodded. "I'm so glad."

"But there are lots of strong monsters around here," Kirito warned, "let's revive it once we get back to town. I'm sure that Pina would prefer it that way too," _the dragon wouldn't want to have to worry about you the whole way back._ She agreed and they started strolling back down the path which had a lot fewer monsters on it than on the way up.

When they were about halfway down the trail, Kirito grabbed onto the cheerful girl's shoulder and she looked up at him confused. He was at least a foot taller than the brown haired girl and she tilted her head as he glared off of the bridge they were standing on. "Whoever's lying in wait there, show yourself!" _Foolish._

Behind a tree right off of the bridge, a woman stepped out and got onto the dirt path. "R-Rosalia-san," Kirito kept a straight face, but at the sound of the woman's name, his suspicions were confirmed. _Thought so, big mistake coming here. For her that is._ The woman held her spear with a three pronged blade steady as she smiled at the pair of them.

"If you can see through my hiding skill," the woman started shouting at the man on the bridge, "your detection skill must be quite high swordsman. It seems that your attempts to acquire the Pneuma Flower were successful. Congratulations," she smiled and then looked down with an evil glint in her eyes, "Now hand it over immediately."

"W-what are you talking about?" Silica exclaimed.

"That's not going to happen, Rosalia. Or should I say leader of the orange guild, Titan's Hand." A smile formed on his face as the woman stopped in her tracks.

"Ehh," she looked at the confident kid in a new light.

"But Rosalia-san is green!" the little girl tried backing up the woman who was once a party member. Sure, the older lady was mean to her, but accusing someone of being an orange guild member was no light accusation.

"It's a simple trick," _probably copying LC, these stupid fools._ He kept a smile on his face as he looked straight at Rosalia, "A green member finds targets, then leads them to where the orange members are hiding in wait. That was one of your comrades eavesdropping on us last night, right?"

Silica started understanding the situation they were in and looked at the red head, "Then the reason we were in the same party for the past two weeks..."

"That's right," the woman said, her voice lined with malice. "I was assessing the party's strength, while waiting for you all to earn money for adventures. You were the prey I was most anticipating. It was unfortunate that you left," the woman licked her lips and slid her hands up her spear. "We had to make do with just the three boys, and they were no fun whatsoever."

"What did you do to them?!" Silica asked, her voice shaking.

"You were probably asleep which is why you don't know," Rosalia started and Silica whimpered, knowing what that meant. "They barely put up a struggle," she laughed insanely. The woman looked to Kirito who was still glaring at her with a confident smile on his face, "You knew all that and still went with her anyway? Are you an idiot? Or did she really seduce you?"

"No, neither of those apply," he said in a bored tone. Silica was looking angrier than she'd ever looked at someone before, but her cute face couldn't scare a fly. Kirito's calm expression is what made the leader of the orange guild start to sweat a bit. "I've also been searching for you, Rosalia," his eyes narrowed.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, intrigued at why someone would search out an orange guild, or a red guild now that they'd started killing players.

"Ten days ago, you attacked a guild called the Silver Flags. Four people, all but the leader, were killed."

She twirled one of her hair strands around one finger and chuckled, "Oh, you mean those players with no money..."

"Their leader was at the warp-point plaza on the front lines, from morning till night," Kirito's smile disappeared as he remembered the man's face. "He was tearfully seeking someone to avenge his party, but he didn't want you killed. He asked that you be sent to prison. Do you have any idea how he felt?" _If it were me I'd want them killed, no, worse._

The woman in front of him flicked some hair away and answered, "No, not at all. What kind of idiot would take this seriously? There's no proof that killing someone here means they die in real life." _Is she stupid, I didn't know there were still people alive who thought that. Maybe she's just trying to convince herself, but anyone who's been trapped in a video game for over a year knows that this is for real._ "Anyway, shouldn't you be more concerned for yourselves?"

With a snap of her finger, men walked out from behind every tree around Rosalia. He quickly summed them up, _seven, eight including Rosalia. None have as good of weapons and armor as the stuff I gave Silica, except for maybe the leader, but even she is still far, far below me._

The young girl looked around and saw most of them were orange players, murderers by the looks of it. "Kirito, there are too many of them! We should run," she panicked.

He smiled at her and pat her on the top of the head, "It's alright. Until I tell you to run, just keep the crystal ready and keep watch." He turned from her and started walking to the side of the bridge where the enemy were gathering.

"B-but, Kirito-San!" she shouted after him and the red guild on the other side of the bridge opened their mouths a little.

The boy smirked as he heard one of them talking from that side of the bridge. He stopped walking and just listened, "Kirito? Dressed in all black..."

Another man continued, "A one-handed, no-shield style."

"Don't tell me that's the Black Swordsman..."

"Rosalia-san, this is the beater who solos the front line," the man next to her with a red bandana on his sleeve tried to convince her. "He's on the Assault Team!"

"An Assault Team member?" Silica whispered from behind the taller boy.

"Why would someone from the Assault Team be all the way down here?" The red-headed woman shouted in disbelief. _What do you mean all the way down here? You brought seven men with you because this floor is much more difficult than you can handle on your own._ Kirito almost laughed at the woman's response, "Come on! Just take him out already and take everything he owns!" The enemies' crappy weapons started glowing and the boy was interested in how this was going to play out, but he left his sword in his sheath for the time being.

"DIE!" the men all charged forwards and started running back and forth, slashing through the boy with their weapons and making huge red gashes appear on his body where the system marked him being hit.

Silica stared in horror, _this is all my fault,_ "I've got to save him, Kirito," she whispered. Suddenly her eyes went wide as she watched the health bar next to Kirito's name. It was barely dropping at all, and every few seconds it raised back up to full without him doing anything. "What's going on?"

The men around him seemed to be having the same confused looks on their faces and were panting in a circle around the beater. "You fools, what are you doing? Just kill him!" The smile was back on Kirito's face as he laughed at Rosalia's reaction.

She was the only one that didn't run onto the bridge and the only one that Kirito thought could do any significant damage at all. "Four hundred in around ten seconds," Kirito stated in a collected voice making the men around him sweat and look at each other. "That's the amount of combined damage you seven can do to me, but you see," he smirked wider, "I'm level seventy-eight." The cocky grin on his face made Silica afraid, she'd never seen him like this. "I have 14,500 HP. My battle-healing skill auto regenerates six hundred points every ten seconds. We could stand here all day and you'd never beat me."

"Is that even possible?" one of the men asked his friend but Kirito's listening ability was high enough that he spun and said that it is.

"High enough numbers will give you a ridiculous advantage, that's what makes MMOs with a level system so unfair." Kirito pulled out the same blue crystal he used on the other two members of Titan's Hand earlier that week. Holding it up he stated, "My client spent his entire fortune to buy this warp crystal. It's set to send you to the Black Iron Palace. I'm sending every one of you there!"

_They killed those four members, and then the three of Silica's old party._ A nasty snarl appeared on Kirito's face and as Rosalia was about to shout he continued in a low, quiet voice. "I told the man," he whispered and the tone of his voice made shivers go down every one of their spines, "that I would refrain from killing you." His head was down and his hair covered his eyes as he raised up. Suddenly they shot open and he glared at the men around him, "That doesn't mean I won't teach you a lesson first."

His sword was drawn now, the weakest one that he had to prevent any of the members from getting killed in his next attack. Kirito cracked his neck to either side and the red-haired woman on the other side of the bridge shouted at him, "I'm green, so if you hurt me you'll go orange..." With speed that no one thought was possible, Kirito moved like a blur from his spot on the bridge to where the woman was standing.

A gust of wind hit the two men who Kirito sprinted between and they spun to see the boy with his sword up against the woman's neck. She was still looking at the bridge and only knew the boy was in front of her because of the cold steel she felt pressing against her skin. Her eyes moved down as her whole body shook in fear, "Just so we're clear, I'm a solo player." His eyes were dark as he looked into the woman's, "One or two days of playing while orange mean nothing to me." He used his right hand to punch the woman in the gut and she hunched over, dropping her spear to the ground.

The men on the bridge started to panic, some tried to run, while others dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. None got away. Kirito chased after the man in the yellow tank top and the one with the small iron helmet and kicked them both in the backs. They dropped to the bridge and their faces slid across the stone but Kirito didn't even watch what happened as he had flipped backwards and landed between two men on their knees. He grabbed each of their heads and smashed them together, dropping each of their healths below half before turning to his net victim.

"Kirito," a small whisper croaked but the boy couldn't hear it.

He spun from the two men who dropped to the ground and saw the man who had charged at him first holding up his glowing blue sword. He was wearing all blue and had a long black ponytail. Next to him was a man in green with a leather cap and a shield. They were both ready to fight and Kirito vanished, appearing right behind them with his incredible speed. The larger one with the shield turned his trembling head just in time to see the flat side of Kirito's sword slam him in the face and he dropped to the ground, grabbing his nose which made a nasty cracking sound. The blue man swiped at him with his sword but it simply went through Kirito doing fifty damage, nothing for the front lines soldier.

"Kirito, please stop," the whisper sounded out again but the kid in all black was in a frenzy. Silica was wearing a red and white outfit with red ties around her pigtails and she fell to her knees; watching Kirito was draining her strength and made her legs feel weak. _What happened to him? Why is he acting like this?_

After he had disposed of the man in blue, he saw one of the two he'd slammed to the ground before trying to crawl away and he grabbed the man by the back of the tunic, throwing him back down on the ground so his health was closer to zero. This made him and the rest who were already on the ground to stop moving in fear of being killed by the insane Assault Team member. _I guess Rosalia really does believe in dying in the game since she's just lying there like a pathetic mess._ The woman had a hand clamped over her stomach and wasn't even thinking of an escape she was too afraid.

There was only one man left, the second one to charge at Kirito who was wearing a pair of glasses and backing away until his back hit the edge of the bridge. A shaky smile came to the man's face as he swung his sword and threw it at the unsuspecting boy. Kirito ducked under it with ease but saw it was just a distraction so the man could jump off the bridge. "Oh no you don't," Kirito moved as fast as lightning and leaned over the bridge, catching the man by the back of the collar as he was dropping.

The person who thought he was in the clear panicked and looked back up to see Kirito's face. It wasn't a pleasant sight for the scared man who started squirming.

"Kirito!" Silica shouted and ran towards the boy on the edge of the bridge. Right as she started running, he yanked up hard with his right hand and threw the man back onto the bridge where he landed a few inches away from the young girl. She was so terrified that she jumped backwards and landed on the ground, "Ouch."

He looked over and saw the girl rubbing her sore butt. One quick glance around showed him that the others weren't going to try and escape so he sheathed his sword and pulled back out the blue crystal. "Silica," he said, smiling once again at the girl. She was amazed at the change in his aura, he seemed to switch back into normal within a second, "I'm going to take them to prison, but I'll be back in a few minutes."

He rounded up all the enemies who didn't try to escape or pull back out their weapons and grabbed onto all of them before shouting, "Teleport: Black Iron Palace." He poofed in a flash of blue light and appeared in the middle of the prison block. A few guards seemed to lose their balance in the chairs they were playing cards in. One even fell on the floor as nine people appeared right in front of him.

Then, the guard in charge saw Kirito standing amongst the eight others and asked, "More Titan's Hand members?"

"This should be all of them," he pointed a finger at Rosalia, "she's the leader." With that said, he teleported back to the forty-seventh floor and started running back to the bridge he was on to find his party member.

He met up with her and she looked at him with an expression filled with different emotions so they walked together back to the warp-gate. They stayed silent the entire journey until they were back at the Mishe inn and sitting inside Kirito's room.

"I'm sorry," he said after they were both sitting on his bed for close to ten minutes. "I ended up using you as bait more or less. I thought you'd be scared if I told you the truth. Also... I didn't want you to have to see that," _I lost my cool, in front of a little girl. That shouldn't have happened, I could have lured Rosalia out a different way without using Silica as much._

She shook her head and smiled, "You're a good person so I would never be scared. Kirito," she whispered, "I'm sorry for prying, but you had a nightmare last night." The boy's eyes opened a little more as the girl looked down and twisted her foot on the floor, "W-who is Sachi?"

She looked up expecting him to be mad, but Kirito just smiled at her and put his hand on he head, ruffling her hair. "She was a good friend," Silica heard him use the past tense and that was all she needed to know.

She leaned towards the older boy and wrapped her arms around him, "Are you really leaving?" His was a little shocked by her question but ended up putting his arms around her too.

"Yeah, I've been away from the front lines for five days..." _can't let the others get stronger than me._ "I need to get back right away." They broke the hug and she looked ahead at the wall in front of them

Silica seemed sad but she put on a brave face and exclaimed, "I-It's so cool that you're on an Assault Team!" _Well really, I go solo, but occasionally I guess I could call myself part of the team._ "I could try for years and never get that far."

He looked away and spoke in a low tone that she couldn't make out how he felt while he was speaking. Kirito didn't want her to worry about the levels, _I can do this Silica, just stay where you're safe._ "There are more important things than that. Next time, let's meet in the real world. Then we can be friends, like we are now."

"Right," she smiled, "We will. For sure!"

Ending at that, Kirito stood up and suggested that they revive Pina which went over quite well with the little girl. She removed the flower and the feather from her inventory and held the flower ove Pina's heart. _Pina, I'll talk to you lots and lots, all about my amazing adventure today. About the one day in my life that I had a big brother._

The bird came back to life and Silica embraced it as it shouted its name over and over again. "Pina!" the girl couldn't help but let tears come to her eyes and start flowing as she held on to the bird. She saw Kirito start making for the door and called out, "Hold it right there mister."

He stopped and turned around so he could see the girl with the blue dragon sitting on top of her head. She was frowning at him and pouted, "You said 'next time' like I won't see you until this game is over." A message appeared in front of Kirito's face, asking him to become friends with the girl. "I-I," she looked away, "wouldn't mind if we stayed friends here too."

_Wow, I wish I was this popular with the girls in the real world._ Kirito scrolled up his five person list and saw that three were females. He pressed accept and added another onto it, making the little girl in front of him jump for joy. "Well, see you around Silica." He stopped when he reached the door and looked back, scratching the back of his head, "You know, my birthday is coming up. So, maybe, if you want," he was looking to the side of the room but could see out of the corner of his eye how excited Silica was.

"Ahh, I'll get planning right away, do you want me to invite anyone else? What type of balloons should I get? What's your favorite type of cake?"

"Silica!" he shouted and the girl looked at his exasperated face. "I don't want a party, I just wanted to see if you wanted to get some lunch with me."

"Everyone should have a party on their birthday," Silica whined but Kirito wasn't budging so she finally crossed her arms and said, "Alright."

"Pina, Pina!" the blue dragon started flying around the room happily and the girl chased it around.

"Well, see ya Silica, I've got to get back to the front lines now." She said goodbye to him as well and he headed back outside, checking out of the inn on his way.

He teleported straight to the fifty-fifth floor which he heard had been cleared and saw a group of DDA members walking down the street in front of him. One looked over and chuckled, "Look who decided to show back up. You can head back downstairs, we're doing fine without you, _beater._" The last word made Kirito wince and he just ignored the Divine Dragons and walked down the street of the city.

He was looking for an inn, but he saw something much more interesting first. There was an enormous castle in the center of the city he was in, Granzam. Everything seemed to be made of steel and it was incredibly shiny, making the whole place look beautiful.

What made Kirito stare at the castle wasn't its grandeur however, it was the fact that Knights of the Blood Oath banners hung all around it and there were flags with their insignia hanging off the building. _Looks like they took it over, wonder what they did with the NPCs living inside it._ He didn't like how the KoBO treated NPCs, they acted too much like people to be treated like the other monsters in the game.

The first thing Kirito did when he got up to the castle was stare at its magnificence up close. It could be seen from all parts of Granzam, maybe even the entire fifty-fifth floor, but from up close her could really admire the work Kayaba must've put in to every aspect of it. There were large marble columns, statues of gargoyles and ancient Greek Gods, huge archways that seemed to be built for giants, everything a giant castle in a virtual world should have.

"Kirito!" the boy standing in front of the front gates turned around and started walking back into the city. He heard the shout coming from the castle and instantly recognized the voice. "Hey!" he didn't slow down and just kept walking down the street, ducking into an alleyway and then into the next one after it. He used his camouflage skill to drop into the shadows wearing the Cloak of Midnight.

_What does she want?_ Kirito hid in the darkness and watched with his green scanning vision as the light orange haired girl turned into the first alleyway. She sprinted down it and passed right by the one it connected with, passing out on the other side of the alleys and onto the next street over. She looked frantic, like she needed to tell him something, _don't go out there. Remember what she said after Halloween, she's just going to yell at you._

"Please Kirito," she called out, getting a lot of odd looks from people on the street. He got out of hiding and poked his head out from the connecting alleyway to look down and see the girl standing there. Her face looked sad, _Did something happen to her? Maybe I should..._

"Asu..." the word froze in his mouth as two men started sprinting down the alley from behind him. He dove back into his hiding spot in the shadows as the men ran past him.

"Asuna-san!"

"My lady!" the second man who ran past Kirito recognized. He had been a member for a decent amount of time and he'd fought floor boss battles with him before. He never strayed too far from the second-in-command, and now it looked like he was tailing her. Kirito waited for the man to run out to the street with his partner, "My lady, you can not just run off like that."

"Sorry," she grumbled and continued looking back and forth on the street. "Still not used to the whole idea of bodyguards. I can take care of myself."

The other man ignored her annoyed look and stated, "It's the leader's orders. We're too large a guild to let the top ranked members go off on their own. Sorry Asuna-San."

She stopped looking for Kirito and turned to the elderly man next to her, "It's alright Won. I'm sorry for worrying you," she turned to the younger man who still looked upset, "you too Kuradeel." They started walking down the street away from the exit of the alley and Kirito couldn't see them any more.

"We're going training," she announced to the other two and they nodded, following her towards the exit of the city and the front lines. _Kirito I heard you were at the last floor battle, and I'm sure I just saw you outside of the castle. _She opened her menu, thankful that no one could see what each other were doing and she started typing up a message in the air while she walked. Kuradeel tensed up next to her but she ignored his obvious annoyance and continued writing before sending it to a person on her friend's list. _Please talk to me._

Back in front of the castle, now that he was positive that Asuna wasn't there, Kirito was able to stand out much more. He walked around the entire perimeter of the building, admiring each aspect of it. "You finally found a guild HQ Heathcliff," he whispered and then chuckled to himself, "or should I say, The Strongest Man in the Game."

A small menu appeared in front of Kirito's face and he opened it, despite it being from the girl he was just trying to avoid. The smile that spread across his face couldn't have gotten bigger, 'You still owe me that meal. -Asuna.'

**A/N Hey everyone, just went on a ski trip for a few days and came back a couple of hours ago. Had this one already written so I just needed to edit a few things and post it. I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter and please leave a review telling me what you think or any questions you have! Next time we get a murder in the safe zone dum dum DUUMMM!**

Delta Marauder

Hey! You pointed me out! Thanks! Anyways another mighty fine chapter, keep up the fantastic work. I also wonder, if put in PoH and Johnny Black is Red Eye XaXa going to make an appearance, and are you going to write in the raid on LC? Because that would be awesome. Also why am I the only one reviewing?

**Thanks again! XaXa will be appearing as well soon and the raid on Laughing Coffin is going to be a lot of fun to write so you can look forward to that too!**


	7. Chapter 7

**March 1, 2024.**

Kirito looked at the message in front of him and nodded, closing it and putting it back in his inventory. _Lisbeth opened a new smith shop on the forty-eighth floor hmm, should probably head there soon to get another top grade sword like my Elucidator._ He reached up for the second strongest blade he owned that he kept in his sheath, he saved the best weapon for when he used his dual wield ability so his Elucidator was rarely used. Even in boss battles, if there were others around him, he wouldn't pull out his second one-handed sword so as to keep his skill a secret.

The fifty-sixth floor boss meeting was taking place in an hour hosted by the KoBO. The steel castle started to fill with possible clearers who came to see whether or not they'd be needed in the boss battle.

When the grand hall of the castle was almost filled, the meeting began at exactly 1:00. The huge doors to the room were shut and Godfree stood in front of the room of people. It was rare for Heathcliff himself to run one of these meetings and people started looking for him in the room but it seemed like he wasn't coming. _It's not like he doesn't know the plan, he'll still be at the battle,_ Kirito watched as the man with the red beard went over the specifics of the monster they would be up against. The scouting teams had reported the beast's stats, size, and move patterns. He was amazed that the scouts would risk learning all that, for to do so would have meant fighting the monster for a good amount of time before tp-ing out.

After Godfree finished the specifics, Asuna walked up behind the podium and Kirito chuckled as he was expecting the men next to her to follow her up there. She started calling for shield-users, followed by lancers, and finally tanks. When she got to the tanks, Kirito raised his hand and he was the first one she called on before picking seven others like him. There were now four teams of six each, not including the KoBO group that was already determined before the meeting.

The recently-turned sixteen year old kid looked on in surprise as none of the DDA members volunteered for the mission. Usually they would try to get in a group like the KoBO, but this time they seemed to be staying out of it. He didn't even see Klein's guild in the room, but a few smaller guilds and solo players were put together for the raid.

As the meeting adjourned, Kirito left the room and then leaned up against the wall right outside the doors. A minute later, a girl ran outside and would have kept running forwards after the main group of people if a voice behind her didn't startle her. "Sup," she jumped and spun, drawing her rapier as she did. The boy pulled back and held his hands up in surrender as the point of her sword was held a few inches from his chest.

"Oh, Kirito!" she shouted in half-anger, half-relief. He didn't respond, he only looked down at the sword she still had pointed at him and her face turned red, "Sorry." She apologized and put her sword back in her sheath on her waist.

"You seem jumpy," he told her and she frowned at him. "Something bothering you?"

"Yes," she started walking from the doors towards the street below. "We must move quickly though," he started jogging after her until they were a good two blocks from the entrance of the castle.

She finally slowed down and sighed, turning to him and smiling. "I just wanted to make sure my guards couldn't catch up with me."

He smirked, "Yeah, I know." He paused and gave a small bow, "_My Lady,_" she laughed at his impersonation of Kuradeel and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

Her face turned serious again, "Have you heard the news?" He shook his head, Asuna sighed and looked both ways before continuing her conversation. "There are reports of safe zone PKing."

"That's impossible," he stated firmly.

"Let me finish," she scolded him. "It's a loophole in the system, and before you tell me the system doesn't have any loopholes," he closed his mouth as he was about to interject again, "listen to this." Asuna pulled up a report and sent it to Kirito so he could read it while she went over the jyst of it. "Player killers are taking advantage of the dual system," she started as he read the article with wide eyes. "Apparently they've been doing it for a long time and we've just never known. All the unexplained deaths while people slept, they were all caused by this sleep dueling."

The boy read off of the news clipping, "...challenges someone, and then moves their hand to where the accept icon would be on their menus. The players aren't able to see the request themselves, but if they learn the exact distance..." he looked up at Asuna, "This changes everything."

"Yes, it does. The only reason we learned about this is that someone walked into the room where some red guild member was challenging a sleeping player to the third duel in a row." Asuna turned her head to watch a happy couple walk by, "If that woman didn't walk in when she did, there'd be another dead player." The boy nodded grimly and they continued walking down the street.

"So," he put his hands in his pocket and stopped outside a restaurant, "want to get that meal I owe you now?" _I don't know what changed from Halloween, but she doesn't seem to hate me any longer. Which isn't deserved on my part considering the revival item was a bust..._ he shook his head to get those thoughts to subside and turned to Asuna who was smiling at him, causing him to tilt his head to one side.

"Sure," they went inside and ordered their food.

While they were still waiting, Asuna was talking to Kirito but he wasn't paying attention. His eyes were on a pair of warriors at a table near their's. Every time the female waitress walked over, they reached out and grabbed at her or tried tripping her with their legs.

"Hey, are you listening?" she waved a hand in front of his face and then followed where he was looking and saw him staring at the two guys near them. One snickered and whispered to his friend and as the waitress walked past again, he stuck out his leg far and completely knocked the woman's legs out from under her. She tripped and the food on the tray fell all over the floor, disappearing into a bunch of blue shards.

"Hey!" Kirito got out of his seat and Asuna looked at him in surprise. He walked over and bent down, helping the woman get to her feet. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked the men with disgust as he got her up and she ran to the back.

"She's just an NPC, chill kid."

"Yeah, can't you see we're just having a little fun?" the other man joked and they both started laughing.

"That type of _joke_ isn't funny," Kirito glared at them and their chuckles stopped, both suddenly realizing who the kid in front of them was. One man gulped and motioned with his head for the door and his friend nodded, the two of them standing and walking out of the establishment.

The boy went back and sat at his seat again, going back to his food. "What was that all about?" The girl across from him asked, confused at his sudden outburst.

"Didn't you see what they were doing?" he asked. She nodded slowly at him, as if she was missing something. "You didn't see anything wrong with it?"

"I mean, I guess it wasn't that funny to me, but why do you care so much? The woman is just an NPC," he scoffed at her outlook and looked up as the woman came over and put the food down for them.

"Thank you," he said to her and she responded by thanking him instead for what he did for her before.

When the waitress had finally retreated back to the kitchen, Asuna turned to Kkirito and questioned, "You do know that her reaction was just a result of a computer program telling another program what to say?" He didn't respond and just went to start eating his food. "The NPCs aren't real people," she wasn't going to drop the subject, "the second we start thinking of them as anything more than virtual images, we'll lose ourselves in this game."

"No," Kirito said firmly between mouthfuls and then he finished chewing his food before speaking again. "The second we start treating _people_ like objects, solely because they might not have a soul, is the second we lose ourselves in the game." _They look like people, act like people, we just know that they're not. It devalues life, but what does more is killing them._

"I disagree," she argued. "If killing a thousand NPCs meant getting out of this game a second sooner, I'd slaughter them all in a second." He looked up in shock at her statement but she wasn't treating it like a big reveal.

"Do you really mean that?" He imagined all the blacksmiths, peasants, friendly people who had shown him the way through the game, all at the end of Asuna's blade. "How would you be able to live with yourself?" he asked.

"They're just programs!" she yelled at the boy in front of her. "I'd live with myself perfectly fine. How can you treat them like people?"

"Because they _are _people..." this banter continued and got more intense as people all over the restaurant started watching the two.

"Is that Asuna?"

"The Lightning Flash and the Black Knight? What are they doing?"

"It looks like they're mad at each other," one person commented as each person got out of their chairs and starting shouting louder.

"My Lady!" Both people in question froze and snapped their heads to the door. "I've been looking all over for you, where have you been?" Asuna groaned and turned back to continue arguing with Kirito, but the boy was already gone.

"Oh that little," she growled as she clenched her fists. She stormed out of the room followed by her bodyguard and stopped only to pay the bill. When she opened her menu she saw it was already paid, _Good, he did owe me the meal. If he left me the check as well, I would have wrung his little..._ she stormed out of the restaurant and stomped down the street, unable to comprehend how one boy could make her this mad.

**March 4, 2024.**

"Hey Kirito, looks like we're the first ones at the labyrinth." The black haired boy turned and smiled at Klein who was walking with him. The two had partied for the day, as Klein's friends were off on separate quests. The were heading for the floor 56 boss room to scout it out but first they had to locate it.

"Looks like it," the sixteen year old agreed and started walking towards the entrance of the huge tower. The boy stopped walking and held out an arm, grabbing Klein by the sleeve and causing him to stop as well.

_**grrrrr**_

The red-haired man scratched his chin as he looked at the kid with a confused exression. "Uh Kirito, why are we just standing here?"

"Shhh," Kirito scolded the man and continued staring straight into the dark entrance at the base of the tower. _This dungeon is weird, the door is far too big, as if it wasn't made for humans._

_** Grrrrrr**_

"Did you hear that?" Kirito whispered to the man next to him. Klein nodded fast as he drew his katana and stared into the blackness ahead of them. "What do you think..." before Kirito could finish his sentence, two small yellow dots appeared in the dark cave.

"Umm, Kirito," Klein took a step backwards as the yellow eyes glowed brighter.

_**ROARRRRR!**_

Both fighters fell backwards and stared in terror as the eyes moved forwards to the exit of the cave. The first thing Kirito saw was the name that appeared over the beast's head, 'Geocrawler.' A loud noise that sounded like a car racing by made both pairs of eyes focus on the yellow dots coming out of the cave. The dots merged together and made one large yellow light.

"What is that thing?!" Klein shouted as he scrambled to his feet. The head of the monster coming out of the cave was easily larger than a house and it looked more terrifying than any beast Kirito had seen so far in the game.

_A field boss,_ "Klein, we have to retreat!" Kirito shouted at his friend. _This could be stronger than the last floor boss, telling by the look of its scales, it has incredible defense._ He looked at the monster's face and it seemed to be made of steel, the silver features glinting in the sunlight.

Both men started running from the monster but soon found it wasn't going to be that simple. The Geocrawler had legs but it looked more like a giant snake and dropped to the ground, slithering across the plain and towards the two fighters. _It's fast,_ as the teenager thought it, he was launched by a headbutt from the field boss. Klein turned and held up his sword for some defense but the monster's head only paused for a second after slamming into the weapon before knocking Klein back and making him tumble up a hill.

On either side of the boys were tall, grassy hills that made the terrain they were in more like a valley. It was hard to escape from the sides and they were going to just have to keep going forwards. "Stop!" Kirito shouted as he was sprinting away from the monster. Klein thought the younger boy was talking to him, but he looked ahead and saw a party of seven charging past them for the Geocrawler. "Go back!" the black-haired boy screamed as he and Klein ran right past the group of seven.

"No way, we have this," the boy leading the charge shouted. He was the first one at the monster and stabbed at its face with his spear. The weapon simply bounced off the Geocrawler and the boy holding it looked at his useless weapon with fear.

"Move," one of his friends shouted and jumped at the side of the beast, slashing his sword and getting it to bounce off just like the leader's had.

"We need to keep moving," Klein tugged at Kirito's sleeve and they were both low on health.

"Let's just wait..." Kirito started, but as the words left his mouth, the monster roared and shot a beam of blue light around the front of its face. Two of the party members froze where they were, entrapped inside and ice cube. Their eyes opened wide as the Geocrawler rushed forwards and slammed straight through their frozen forms, shattering them into blue shards.

"Takashi! Ryu!" one of the party screamed and rolled under the monster, slashing at its underbelly. They all saw the large green bar above its head decrease, but the beast dropped down and the kid who slashed at it barely rolled out from under it in time.

Gunshots sounded and the two who got there first snapped back into reality, "We need to go, now Kirito!" Klein backed away and started running. More people were charging past them as the party that went in after them started to retreat as well.

_We need to stop them, this monster is too strong,_ he turned and saw two parties attacking it at the same time but there was little progress being made. "So many are going to die," the sixteen year old whispered.

"That's why we need to get back and make a plan with the other guilds," Klein told him. "People are going to die!" the red head shouted at the boy next to him and it made Kirito startled, "But we can limit the amount of life lost as long as we get back here with a good plan."

The kid looked up at the man who had a determined look in his eye, _he's right._ "Yeah, let's go."

**March 6, 2024.**

Clearing the Geocrawler was easier said than done. Many raids went in, none were able to defeat the huge boss, the biggest one so far in the game.

Kirito and Klein had an idea that they thought would work and brought thirty players with them when they tried it. The two of them hunted a huge piece of A-class meat and brought it outside the labyrinth, hoping the Geocrawler would come out and eat it, giving them the chance to swipe at the soft spot on its stomach.

This plan failed, miserably. The beast chewed through the meat in a matter of seconds, and the hits the raid were able to get in on it only took down a fraction of its health. They lost five good players on that raid, _we should have thought of something better before trying that._ Kirito growled at his stupidity and walked into the battle tent.

All the front-line players were gathered on floor fifty-six. The long amount of time they'd spent on the floor without even getting in the labyrinth allowed many of the players that had fell behind to catch up in the past few days. A small town nearby to the entrance, Pani, was where the meeting to take down the field boss was taking place. The meeting was called by the KoBO, but Asuna was supposedly leading it as Heathcliff had business elsewhere. _Whatever that means, seriously, what could be more important than this?_ Kirito was just in an unusually bad mood as he stood close to the table in the center of the room.

Looking around, the boy saw the top ranking members of the Divine Dragons, along with a few Army leaders and leaders of other guilds. _The Grislax, NOPO, there's the Fuurinkazan,_ he looked to the leader of each of the clearing guilds around him until he stopped on Klein. The man smiled at him and waved but Kirito just nodded and looked back around the room.

_The DDA are whispering amongst themselves, probably don't want to risk losing any men to this field boss. Selfish asses. No, I wouldn't want to risk my own comrades' lives either, but still._ He looked behind the NOPO leader who was standing next to Klein and saw Agil and a few other solo players standing in the back.

The whispering in the room ceased all at once as the woman in charge of the meeting slammed her hand on the table before them. It had a map of the floor sitting on it and it shook from the air her hand shot under it. "We'll lure the Geocrawler into the village."

_We needed a plan but this?_ "Wait a second. If we do something like that, the villagers..." he made eye contact with Asuna and they both glared into each others' eyes as their argument from earlier that week continued.

"That's the goal." To Kirito, Asuna sounded cold during her following sentence, "While the boss is killing NPCs, we're going to attack it, and then destroy it."

"NPCs aren't just 3-D objects like trees or rocks." _What will happen to us if we get out of this game? _"They're..."

"Alive? Is that it?" she glared into his face and he stopped talking. "They're only objects. Even if they're killed, they'll just respawn."

He didn't see how he could change her mind, especially when it seemed like most of the people in the room agreed with her. _If... when we get out of this game, there are going to be a lot of troubled people. People who slaughtered innocent peasants with their bare hands. Peasants who screamed in pain and tried to run and protect their families, maybe they're just programs, but that isn't the point._ "I can't go along with that kind of plan." _This is a different world we live in, not just a break from reality._ Kirito wouldn't budge on the issue and Asuna knew it.

She stood up straight and made eye contact with Kirito, a whole room of people staring at them an the tension that hung in the air between them. "It's been decided that this operation will be run by myself, Asuna, vice commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath. You will obey my orders." The look she gave him dared Kirito to challenge her in front of a room of people.

_I don't remember you ever becoming my boss,_ he stayed quiet and left with the rest of the room once Asuna dismissed them. As he was walking, he heard a gruff voice behind him and turned to see Agil coming out of the hut. "You and the second command were going at it again. Why are you always like that?"

The boy sighed and held up his hands in front of him, "I guess we just don't have good chemistry." He remembered the first boss room when he had told her to join a guild if someone she trusted asked her. For the first time, he told Agil about it and then looked off into the distance. "Who'd have thought she'd turn into a floor-clearing demon in the top guild?" _Eh, I didn't think that it wasn't a possibility._

"Hmm, well, I'll see you out there," Agil gave the kid a wave.

"I wouldn't look forward to it that much," Kirito responded and waved the man off. He muttered as he walked away, "Like I would go along with a plan like that, there has to be another way."

Later that day, Asuna had gathered all the members of the assault squad together and they were about to charge to the labyrinth to draw out the Geocrawler. Kirito stepped forwards as Asuna was explaining and he got right in front of her, "I challenge you to a duel." Everyone started whispering amongst themselves as a few KoBO members moved closer to back Kirito away. "If you win, I will help out the plan in any way that I can."

"And if you win?" Asuna asked with a grin on her face.

He could tell she was already going to accept, "If I win, we wait and come up with a different plan that doesn't involve massacring the civilians." The way he phrased his sentence made a few of the other players rethink what they were about to do.

"Accepted," she held out her finger and waited for the message to appear from Kirito. He challenged her and the girl accepted the duel request.

'60, 59, 58,' the numbers appeared above them and everyone who wasn't involved backed away to watch in awe at the spectacle.

"You've got this Kirito!" Klein broke the quiet that had fell on the crowd and instantly, close to a hundred fighters started placing bets and cheering someone on. Most of the KoBO stayed composed, but a few called out Asuna's name in encouragement.

"She doesn't need your help," one man said to a cheering ally. "The Lightning Flash will finish this duel before we even see it get started."

'10, 9, 8, 7,' Kirito reached behind his back and unsheathed his Elucidator, which he had just equipped for the battle. He still wasn't going to risk showing his dual-wielding ability, but he had enough faith in his own skill, that he was going to be able to defeat Asuna without it. "Are you ready?" she asked him with a sly grin, drawing her thin rapier from her waist.

"TWO, ONE!" The spectators cheered as the duel began and both fighters ran towards each other in blinding bursts of speed. The grassy field was filled with the strongest fighters in the game and they all cheered each time one of the two got a hit in on the other.

Asuna used a sword skill causing her blade to turn red and she moved closer to Kirito at twice the speed she had been going. Her blade hit him twice in the chest before he smacked away her third consecutive jab before it could connect with his hurting chest. As her sword was pushed off, he saw a huge opening and his own sword glowed blue as he swung. Her eyes went wide and she tried jumping backwards but his sword was longer than she thought and the edge of it sliced across her torso. A huge red gash appeared in her stomach and she fell on her back, looking up at the green bar above her head as it dropped down to the yellow.

"No way," the KoBO member, who had told his comrade to shut up earlier for cheering on Asuna, opened his eyes wide as he saw the icon appear. 'Winner: Kirito.'

"Woohoo!" Klein cheered and a small roar of applause came from those cheering on the kid, and even a few that were rooting for Asuna who were just impressed by the fight.

"That was amazing."

"He's still a beater, but damn."

Kirito sheathed his sword over his shoulder and started walking back towards Pani, "We'll come up with a new plan."

Asuna got to her feet and bowed her head in shame, _I was cocky. I shouldn't have let him challenge me, let alone accepted those terms. Leader is going to be upset._ She waited for the majority of the people gathered to leave and then headed back to town herself. She walked through the unbreakable gates to the town that she was planning on leaving open and they were shut behind her.

The girl with light brown, orangish hair walked through the village, thinking of a different way to defeat the monster. Her stroll took her the entire day, and she finally stopped when she realized it was already night time. Her legs were tired and she sat down against the side of a building next to her, resting her head against the wood. _I'll just rest my eyes for a few seconds..._

When Asuna opened her eyes again, she realized it was already very late at night. _Kuradeel and Won are going to be pissed that I haven't checked in yet._ She was about to get up when the door to the building she had her head leaned up against opened. A small girl ran out the door, a huge smile on her face. She had a pink bow on her right pigtail and was wearing overalls, and Asuna couldn't help but smile, _she's so cute._

The girl saw Asuna sitting against her house and ran over, "Hey, you're that girl who was leading everyone to fight the nasty old monster. How'd it go? Is everyone alright?" The KoBO girl stared at the little girl and looked above her head for a cursor, but there was none there. _She's an NPC._

"Yes, we're all fine, but the monster is still alive," Asuna pulled herself up to her feet and held a hand out to hold herself up against the wall. _Which is because we didn't even make it to the entrance before I turned us back around._

"Thank goodness," the little girl sighed in relief. "My name's Ruru, I'm really glad you came back alright." Again Asuna was surprised by this little figure in front of her, "I hear those loud bangs every day, I see the pictures..." her eyes started to fill with water. "But," she wiped them away with an arm, "today I didn't hear a single one. It's really a good day. Oh, you look so tired, come inside."

"I should really head back home to sleep," Asuna said while yawning. "People might get worried," she tried to reject the girl's offer but Ruru had already pulled her into the small cottage.

"Don't worry," the girl assured as she ran into the other room. "You'll sleep much better here," Asuna walked into the bedroom and saw Ruru jump on one bed and lie under the covers while another, very comfy looking bed was right next to it. _Don't fall asleep, just wait until the girl is. Wait, why is she here alone? Huh, why do I care, she's just an..._ the little girl was smiling into Asuna's eyes and she couldn't finish her thought.

The girl dressed in white and red walked over to the bed but Ruru sat up, "You're not going to sleep in those are you?"

Asuna looked down and sighed, "I guess not." She went into her menu and changed out of her outfit, dressed only in her underwear for a few seconds before she put on pajamas and got into the bed, putting a blanket on top of her.

She lay there for a few minutes, watching as the little girl on the other side of the room rolled from side to side, trying to find a good position to sleep in. Finally the girl just fell on her back and with her eyes closed, she started to sing, "The southern travelling musician. With a lute in his hand. With a brush of silver threads, La, la-la..."

"What are you, yawwwnnn, doing Ruru?" Asuna asked.

"I'm singing you the lullaby my mom used to sing me before the bad monster got her." The player could feel her eyelids forcefully moving down, "It could make me fall asleep, my papa, even the dog would fall asleep after hearing it." _Hmm, that sounds useful, but I'm too tired... WAIT!_ "A black cat up the roof..." The girl continued her song as Asuna tried to lift her head up but wound up collapsing on the bed. _If this song could make the Geocrawler fall asleep, we'd all be able to get under it to the soft spot and finish it off, no one else has to die._

"Thank you, Ruru," Asuna's eyes finally closed again.

When the teenager awoke the next day, she looked over and saw that Ruru was still laying down on the bed next to hers. "Ruru, you're amazing," she ran around the town getting as many fighters as she could to wake up and come with her. A few of the KoBO members were upset with her and said that Heathcliff wanted her to report ASAP, but she told them that it could wait until the Geocrawler was defeated.

Once everyone was gathered, she explained in a rushed voice her new and improved plan. She looked around and got a lot of skeptical looks in response but it was the man who cheered against her in the duel who stood up and shouted that they should do it. _Thanks Klein,_ she smiled at him and he gave her a thumbs up.

A small party went ahead to the dungeon and made loud noises outside of it. The group was made up of players that had trained speed over everything and had removed most of their gear so that they could run faster. When the Geocrawler came out of its home, it charged after the fleeing enemies and towards the town of Pani.

Everyone in the town, people and NPCs alike, came to the edge of Pani to watch the monstrous form of the Geocrawler as it raced towards them. "Get back inside your homes!" Asuna shouted at them as the monster charged but the townspeople refused.

"This is our home and that monster has been killing us for too long."

"We've been afraid to fight it for years, barely straying from the outskirts of our village in fear. You youngsters have given us the will to fight once more," a man holding a pitchfork shouted and the other villagers along with the fighters roared in agreement.

Kirito was staring at the second-in-command in awe, _what changed since yesterday? Did I change her mind? No, something else did,_ he saw the girl motion for Ruru to join her at the front of the crowd, _someONE else did._ A smile spread across his face as Asuna bent down so she was eye level with the girl.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Asuna asked and Ruru nodded.

"If I can really help then definitely," Ruru looked ahead and gulped. Her hands were shaking, but suddenly they felt warm and she looked down to see that Asuna was holding her hands. Her confidence rose and she stared back towards the labyrinth. Five fighters ran past them and the little girl started singing.

Her comrades behind her all grasped their ears with their hands to block out the sound of the noise, but still a few people felt their knees go weak and dropped to the ground. They hadn't covered them fast enough and the song was seeping into their soul. The huge snake-like monster that was tearing across the valley seemed to hear the lullaby as well and they all watched as the huge glowing light on its forehead started to get dimmer. "It's working," someone commented as the beast stopped running and started skidding across the grass, ripping up dirt and the landscape itself because its form was so massive.

After a few more seconds of skidding, the beast came to a complete stop. It's head was only feet in front of Asuna and Ruru who hadn't moved an inch the entire time. "Keep singing Ruru," Asuna told the girl who was the only one not holding her ears. Then she turned around so that everyone could read her lips and shouted slowly, "WE, ARE, ATTACKING! FOLLOW, ME."

"Even the serpent, armored in iron. Da, da-da, da, da-da. Everyone's asleep," the little girl finished her lullaby and stared excitedly at the huge group of fighters. They were all lined up side by side and once Ruru had finished, they rose their weapons that started glowing. The beast had turned a little while it slept so its stomach was exposed to one side of it and everyone readied their weapons.

"3, 2, 1 NOW!" Asuna screamed and every fighter used their strongest sword skill and plunged their weapons into the defenseless stomach of the Geocrawler. The monster didn't make a noise, but its health bar dropped from full to zero in a matter of seconds. The monster shook for a few seconds and then exploded into more blue shards than they'd ever seen, showering down on top of the raid group.

"We did it!" One of the Fuurinkazan cheered and put Klein in a headlock. Two of the others started dancing around them and the whole crowd burst out in cheers.

Kirito walked over to Asuna who was being praised by a few of her members and they all glared at the kid as he walked over. She looked at him a little harshly and then walked towards him and put her face in front of his, "You were right." He turned red and looked up and to the right.

_What is she talking about? Didn't I embarrass her in front of everyone yesterday? Isn't she mad about that?_ "Uh, Thanks," She sighed as he obviously didn't have a clue to what she was referring to.

"The NPCs," his face lit up in realization and he smirked at her.

"I told you so," he said and she frowned at him. _He just had to ruin the moment._

"Hmph," she turned away from him, "whatever." Asuna saw Ruru running towards her and she smiled, bending down and patting the girl on the head. "You did great Ruru," she said and the little girl blushed.

"Yeah, that was amazing Ruru," Kirito bent down and picked the girl up, holding her in the air. "Three cheers for Ruru! Hip hip..."

"Hooray!" Everyone yelled and then started cracking up as Kirito stopped after the first cheer. A warning indicator had appeared in the air next to Ruru warning him to stop sexually harassing the NPCs. His face was all red and he put the girl down fast, coughing a few times and thanking the girl again before walking off to disappear in the crowd.

_Haha, serves you right Kirito,_ Asuna was giggling and the little girl next to her was smiling at her in a new way. "What is it?"

"Nothing," the teenager responded and the young girl started twirling a few strands of hair in her fingers, "Mommy used to always look at Daddy the same way." Asuna's face turned bright red and she spun around, sighing in relief as she saw no one had heard the young girl's ridiculous remark.

"Come on Ruru, let's enjoy the party." Asuna offered the little girl her hand and Ruru took it before they started dancing around with the villagers and players at the festival.

**April 9, 2024.**

Many fighters died during the various battles against the Geocrawler, leaving the front lines short on players. Even during the two following battles: the 56th and 57th floor bosses, players were being killed again and they had to slow down their advance through the world once more. _We only beat two floors last month, and this is the first one for this month. I hope we're prepared._

Kirito was walking in the midst of an army of people towards the fifty-eighth floor. There were a lot of new faces of players who had been far below them but reached the floor while they were there training. They'd been urged not to come if they didn't think they were ready, but this was the moment those people had been training a year and a half for, nobody was going to turn them away.

Still, Kirito tried to make sure that no one with them was more than twenty levels below his own. He could see that a few were close, but as long as their level was at, or above, the current floor number, he wasn't going to say anything.

Heathcliff was with them for this raid, and before they left Halgard, he saw the strongest man turn down a pair of men whom he had watched switch out weapons. They were only level fifty-sex, and he wouldn't let them run off to their deaths.

The group made many extra precautions when getting ready for the new boss fight, even going as far as sending in troops to teleport out when the battle got bad enough. This tactic often got men and women killed who had never seen the boss before, but this time it paid off and they had a lot of information going in to fight it. _We all know that it will change its fighting patterns once we weaken it enough though._ Kirito drew his sword from his back and swiped it to both sides before holding it in his stance.

The Fuurinkazan lined up on his right, and the KoBO led by Godfree were on his left. He had no idea where the two leaders of the Knights had gone, but they must have been doing something important if it meant both were missing the boss fight. _When was there ever really a time when at least one of them didn't show? Probably back when DDA was still taking on floor bosses without wanting the KoBO to help._

While most of the regular fighting on the floors had stayed the same through the castle Aincrad, the guilds had to adapt to changing difficulties in floor bosses. They were still aiming for the last hit to get the bonus, but guild lines mattered little during the attacks where everyone helped everyone else to get through. The large brown doors to the boss room were pushed open by Godfree and Klein. Kirito stood between them and once the doors were opened enough, he charged through the crack at the orange titan standing in the middle of the room.

"Kronos," one man read off the name of the boss that they already knew from the scouts. "He's huge!" The beast towered at least ten times taller than the tallest man among them. It was wide as well and the first thing Kirito did when the battle started was run between the monster's large legs and swipe at the back of its left knee with his sword.

_That would have been more effective if I had sliced both knees. Should I use dual wield?_ He spun and parried a blow from the titan's huge hammer, but the strength of it pushed him backwards as his feet grinded across the floor. A few of the other fighters stared at him in amazement at how he could block such a massive blow from the giant. _No, I can do this without using my other sword. If all these people see my ability, they'll try to find out how I got it in which I'll tell them the truth. However, 'I don't know,' doesn't seem like a good response, they'll probably think I'm lying and harbor more hatred against me._

In fact, a lot of the clearers had forgotten about Kirito's whole speech in the first floor boss room. Most of the people who were there, were now long dead, or had stopped fighting since they couldn't keep up with the pack. The others in the room had only heard rumors, rumors that were constantly disproved when they saw Kirito jump in front of a blow that would have killed one of their comrades. He'd sacrifice his own health to save someone else, and they all had a respect for him because of it. Despite this, there were still many who thought ill of him, one of whom was charging at the monster now.

"Stop!" an Army soldier shouted at his friend who was running at the beast.

"Take this!" the man shouted as he stabbed the monster in the left foot. Kirito spun to his left and saw the man trying to pull his sword from the foot, but the blade had gotten stuck.

"Move," Kirito shouted at the man as the huge monster's health didn't go down much, it only got really, really pissed. Before the black haired kid could run to the heavily armored man's side, the monster kicked its foot forwards and threw the man in front of it into the wall on the outside of the battle.

"Ugh," the man groaned and fell from the wall, disappearing as he dropped.

"It's only at half health, nobody else better die!" Klein shouted as he and three other Fuurinkazan charged at the monster. The first one in cut a huge gash in the side of the monster and it roared, striking back but being parried by the ax of the muscular figure who jumped in front of his comrade. The two of them rolled out of the way as the titan regained control and swiped with its other hand, that had just drawn a large club out from thin air.

As it swung towards the two men on the ground, the chubby man with Klein jumped up in the air and held up his shield in front of the incoming club. The weapon and the buckler pushed against each other until a large amount of sparks flew up in the air and Klein's friend dropped down to the floor feeling accomplished as the monster's club bounced off and into the air.

"Nice Owen," the leader of the Fuurinkazan jumped up in the air and held his katana in front of him, "Raaaa!" he brought it down leaving a huge vertical gash down the front of the beast.

"Keep attacking!" Godfree shouted, turning to the area where most of the fighters were and waving his hand towards Kronos. After seeing the group of samurai in the red armor take on the boss, the other members felt their morale boost and sprinted at the monster with a new fury.

Twenty minutes later, the boss was defeated. Bubble letters wrote out the word 'Congratulations' in the air and a few people were laughing and talking to each other with smiles, but for the majority of them, it wasn't a happy occasion. Kirito walked over to where Klein and Godfree were talking to each other and heard the end of his friend's sentence, "...three people is not a _successful_ raid. We have to slow down."

"I do see where you're coming from," the man with the much scruffier beard said. They were the only two in the room with red hair and both were over a foot taller than Kirito who stood awkwardly between them. "But Daizen says that we're getting a lot of heat from the lower floors. People see us slowing down up here and think we're losing the will to fight." He lowered his voice to a whisper so only the three of them could hear, "Heathcliff agrees, they're on important business right now." _Could 'they' include Asuna? it must._

"To get people motivated again?" Kirito asked and Godfree turned to him, nodding with a smile on his face. _Damn, that guy doesn't get depressed over anything. Why is he always smiling like that,_ it was somewhat contagious and Kirito started to forget about the deaths he had just witnessed. "It seems that- as people are getting more frustrated that we aren't out yet, many more are getting accustomed to this world. People aren't worried about escaping any more."

Klein nodded grimly but Godfree just put an arm over each of their shoulders, "Chin up boys, we'll get out of here yet."

The man walked back to his KoBO members and the Knights started heading back to the floor below to give them the news without wasting a teleportation crystal. "You wanna go check out the next floor?" Klein asked his friend and Kirito thought about it for a total of half a second before nodding fast. "Race you?" the man offered.

"We're in a game where dying in here means dying in real life," Kirito responded coldly, "It's hardly the time for a race." The man nodded and turned, shouting he was going to go up to the next floor with Kirito.

"Shouldn't you be following him then?" Owen asked as he put away his shield.

Klein was confused at what his friend was talking about and turned to see Kirito running away and towards the stairs to the next floor. _'Hardly the time for a race' my ass! _"No fair!" he shouted, chasing after the kid as a few solo players looked on with amused looks, "you got a headstart."

_You're too easy Klein,_ Kirito thought as he ran up and out into the bright sunlight of the fifty-ninth floor. Grassy fields stretched for miles and there were small towns with windmills in them that could be seen from atop the hill they came out of. The man came panting out of the staircase a few seconds later, still exhausted from the fight and now the chase as well. He thought about yelling at Kirito for cheating but he heard the boy whispering in front of him, "Four, three, two, one." A loud gunshot fired and the two of them looked into the sky.

As the other two fighters appeared in the air as well, Kirito paid respects and then turned to grin at Klein. "Took you long enough," he joked and the man frowned at him.

"Kirito, it isn't funny to joke about dying in this game. People just died, for real," the boy's smile started to fade as Klein scolded him. His head pointed down at the grass they were standing on, _then again,_ "Last one to the town buys the other lunch!" Klein shouted and his sentence grew quieter as he finished it because he was already halfway down the hill.

"Damn it Klein!" Kirito shouted and started sprinting down the hill after his friend.

**Two hours later.**

"I can't believe you still beat me, even with my headstart," Klein grumbled as he paid the check for their lunch. Kirito just happened to be a lot hungrier than usual and bought five full entrees. "You're cleaning out my wallet," the man said and then a gunshot fired and the two of them frowned at each other. "You want to check it out?"

"Might as well, we're finished anyway," Kirito got out of his seat and the two of them walked out the front door. Their unhappy expressions disappeared and smug ones were put in their places as they stared at the image of a man with a scar down his left eye. He had black skin and a wicked smile, but the reason they were smiling was because of the shiny red apple on the bottom left of the man's face. It had a black background and the apple had little red lines coming out of the top of it, showing just like the name implied, that it was dangerous to eat.

"Poison Apples," Klein said with a smirk, "wonder who put that guy in his place?"

_It's probably a bad thing that we're happy about this, but too many good people die every day for someone like him to get any negative response from me. Hell, Klein is right, they deserve it._ Another bang sounded and another photo with a red apple appeared in the sky.

The other people who were in the town of Danac left their buildings at the sound of a second gunshot and looked up in the air. Cheers and woops sounded throughout the small town and only got louder as a third image appeared. When a fourth photo appeared, the cheering died down. _That's not a Poison Apple, that's..._

"Death's Grace," Klein muttered in even more disgust than for the Poison Apples. Just as there was a list for the most powerful green guilds, Argo had also been writing a list of the strongest red guilds so people knew who to stay away from. Poison Apples were the third strongest, while Death's Grace was second.

On the bottom left of the dead woman's photo, the small emblem of the dark angel in a white background appeared. Flames rose up from right beneath the angel's feet and it was a menacing symbol, one you never wanted to see next to your enemy's health bar. "Are they fighting each other?" Kirito turned around and saw a female player walking past him and then stopped, looking straight up at the sky.

"Who cares!?" another man, who had heard what that girl said, shouted and pumped a fist in the air. "Kill each other off, save us the trouble!" The cheers started back up as more pictures appeared in the sky.

Klein stopped cheering after the tenth photo appeared and he continued to watch with a grin on his face as he talked to Kirito. "Do you think this is where Asuna and Heathcliff were during the battle? It would make a lot of sense," the man offered but Kirito shook his head in disagreement.

"They would have brought more of the people who were in that room, they would have told us about it." This time it was Klein's turn to disagree.

"Unless they don't trust us," he said, his smile staying on his face. "There are a lot of sketchy figures on the Assault Team, yourself included," Kirito knew he was right and nodded, "if they told us all, there would have been higher chances that the plan's details would escape to the public. This was probably a good idea, look," he pointed in the sky and whistled a few times with the other cheers as another Poison Apples member appeared, this one with a golden crown in front of his symbol. "None of the team attacking them have been killed yet, and they already took out one of their leaders."

_I guess he's right, I wish you had told me Asuna... be careful._ Kirito smiled at the sky and watched another Death's Grace member appear, before his smile vanished in an instant and a the female player close by screamed. _I don't understand, what is the meaning of this?_ The newest photo that appeared in the sky was of a short man with crazed eyes. From his profile picture alone, they could see he was evil, and the man holding up the middle finger in the photo didn't make it any better. What made everyone gasp when they saw it though, was the fact that the symbol on the bottom left didn't belong to either of the two fighting guilds, and it didn't belong to the Knights of the Blood Oath either.

"Laughing Coffin," Kirito whispered, seeing the black coffin on the black background. The smiling face in the middle of it still unnerved him and his mind was swirling with possibilities.

"M-Maybe this is a good thing," the man standing next to the female player called out to everyone on the street. "It's a three-way battle between the red guilds, getting rid of all the enemy players for us." Another cannon sounded and everyone saw a second Laughing Coffin member appear above them, bringing the total death toll to sixteen. "See, even LC is getting weaker."

A few other people started getting at what the man was saying and continued to cheer, but many others were staring in fear at the sky. The seventeenth photo appeared and this time it was the leader of Death's Grace, causing the street to erupt in cheers.

"That's the second and third strongest guilds' leaders taken down!" A man shouted and turned to the woman he was standing next to. They had a celebratory kiss and broke it only to stare at the sky in wait for another loud bang.

The applause and general rowdyness of the crowd died down as everyone stared at the pictures in anticipation. "What's going on? Is it over?"

"Can't be, there are way too many members left in those guilds."

"But then why did they stop?"

Kirito's expression slowly got darker and darker as he turned to the wall of the restaurant and punched it with all of his strength. 'Warning: Immortal Object,' appeared in the air next to him but he didn't care and just punched it three more times. _No! NO! This can't happen,_ he turned hard and started walking for the outskirts of town.

"Hey, what are you so worked up about?" the muscular man standing next to the gray haired woman wearing glasses asked. He had been leading the cheers throughout most of the battle and Kirito seethed in anger as he looked up at the taller man.

"You don't get it do you?" the only one on the street who wasn't looking at Kirito strangely was Klein, who fell to his knees, still staring at the sky. The boy pointed up in the air, "There are dozens of members in each of those two guilds. Where do you think they're all going now that their leaders are dead?" A few others started to catch on to what he was saying as the images above them started to disappear.

"I don't get it," the man said, looking at Kirito with a pissed off look. They were on the verge of having a party but this kid was ruining the good vibes going around.

"Of course you don't," Kirito laughed with his bangs covering his eyes. "Laughing Coffin is smart, it planned this all out. They had the other two guilds fight with each other, and then stepped in when the others were weakened, taking out their leaders so that their men had no one to turn to for guidance." _I guess the DG leader was able to take down a few LC members before she dropped._ "All those men, working for their own interests, separated and weak, have now joined forces." The man in front of him finally understood where Kirito was going with this, "Instead of a bunch of strong red guilds, now we just have one, super powerful LC. Laughing Coffin's numbers just increased greatly, maybe even doubled," he stopped as he saw a few people around him start to break down. _I'm starting a panic, I have to get out of here before I say too much more._

The muscular man watched as the sixteen year old stormed off. All thoughts of having a party to celebrate left his mind and he looked around the street of crying people before looking up at the sky. The only face left up there was the leader of DG, and then the picture vanished, leaving an empty orange sky behind.

As the sun set, Kirito walked out to the field of the fifty-ninth floor, _I'm probably the first one training up here. It might be a whole three weeks before we attack this floor's boss, don't want to lose any more friends than we have already._

**A/N Hope you enjoyed! Leave a review below telling me what you think or any questions you have. Laughing Coffin is getting bigger and eviler than ever, if eviler even is a word. They're _more evil,_ there we go. See you soon.**

Delta Marauder

"You still owe me that meal" XD  
Anyways mighty fine chapter, keep up the great work. Also it's good that Asuna and Kirito apparently are going to be friends again. Anyways update soon and I'll see you next chapter. Hey! You pointed me out again! :D

**Yep, I usually leave responses to my reviews unless I'm feeling superrr lazy. Asuna and Kirito had some tension in this chapter, but also some growing and they're going to keep getting closer. Next time on SAOE, Murder in a Safe Zone!**


	8. Chapter 8

**April 20, 2024.**

Lying underneath a tree, in a park in Danac, Kirito was staring up at the sky and the birds flying through the air. _Wonder how real they are? Those could just be part of the sky, but maybe I could hunt them? Wonder if they're duck, I like duck._

The boy heard footsteps approaching and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He thought maybe the person would walk right past, but whoever it was stopped when they were right over him. "What are you doing?" his eyes opened and he tilted his head to the side a little to see who it was although he had a good clue from the voice.

He followed up the white stockings to the red skirt, which was surrounded by the bottom of a white cloak. Higher up he saw a metal chestplate and more of the white cloak covering the torso of the girl standing above him. Her face looked sour and he could tell she was in a bad mood. "Oh, it's only you," he said in a bored tone and just lowered his head back to where it was, closing his eyes again.

Asuna fumed at his reaction, "Everyone else in the Assault Team is going all out to clear the dungeon so what are you doing taking a nap out here?" _Everyone else except for you that is,_ he chuckled mentally but kept a straight face as she continued to lecture him. "Even solo players need to take this more seriously..."

"Not only is this Aincrad's nicest season," he started without opening his eyes, "but today's weather is at its optimum setting." _Which is another way for saying it's nice outside, besides, I pretty much killed the fifty-ninth floor field boss leading in to the labyrinth on my own two days ago, cut me a break._ "Diving into a dungeon on a day like this is a waste," he explained, thinking it was a perfectly good reason.

"Do you even understand what's going on?" she questioned him. "Every day we waste here is one more we've lost in the real world." Asuna brushed a strand of her hair from in front of her eyes and looked down in disapproval at the boy.

_One more we've lost?_ "But right now, the place where we're alive is here in Aincrad." He didn't have to open his eyes to know that her face softened at his words, he always knew how to make her feel better, even if he didn't always realize it. A small gust of wind blew over them and the tree above them rustled its branches. The grass started swaying in the wind and Kirito smiled, "See, the wind and sunlight feel so good."

"Do they? Isn't the weather always the same?" she asked, looking around at the world.

He resisted the urge to laugh, only someone who was always inside, or completely focused on one thing would think that. "If you were to lie down like me, you'd understand." His breathing became slower and Asuna looked around, taking in her environment.

When she looked back down, she whispered, "Kirito?" the boy didn't respond and he looked so happy and peaceful. The warmth on her skin made her look around, and then finally up at where the sun was breaking through the leaves of the tree. The light refracted and made rainbows appear in her vision, _beautiful. Can this beauty even exist in the real world?_ Her head tilted back down to the boy lying on the grass, _He's enjoying today, as if it was a day in the real world, which I guess for us, it is real._

"Hmmm," she smiled and took a seat next to him. "I guess I could try laying back and enjoying the 'nice day,'" she giggled and put her head back on the grass. All the stress of hunting the LC members, clearing the floors, and training nonstop caught up with her and her eyes fluttered. She turned on her side and curled up a little to get more comfortable, _it really does feel nice._ Her eyes shut and she fell asleep, the grass acting as a comfortable enough matress.

About an hour later, Kirito yawned and stretched his arms up in the air. _That was a good nap, I wonder where Asuna went, ASUNA!_ He pulled back in surprise as he fully awoke and stared at the girl lying next to him. Her light orange hair was a mess and was all over the place but he found himself staring at her anyway. _Did she fall asleep? Has she been here this whole time? How long has it been? Wow, she's pretty cute when she lies like that._

"Hey hey, look at that." Kirito lifted his head and saw three Divine Dragon members walking past. He recognized one of them to be the officer Yamata, but the man didn't seem to realize who the two in front of him were. _Or maybe he does but he thinks his mind must be playing tricks on him, that's what I'd think if I saw this image._

"Taking a nap at this time of day?"

"Some people don't have a care in the world."

"Who are they, jeez..." the men didn't stop and just kept walking down the path.

Kirito watched them go and then rubbed his still tired eyes, "I didn't think she'd really fall asleep," he muttered to himself. "Hey Asuna," he said but the girl was out cold, _wow, she must have been really beat. It would be harsh to wake her up now, but I can't just leave her here..._

The boy looked around and walked over to the small stone wall overlooking the valley. _That'll be a nice place to spend some time while I wait for her to wake up._ He got up on it and looked over the few hills leading to where the buildings of Danac were. It was a small town, quaint in a way. _Those mountains are going to be treacherous to get through, especially if the only way to get to the tower is by way of cave._ The huge white tower behind the mountains got Kirito's attention, _there has to be a town closer than Danac to that, if not... we're going to have a long trek ahead of us when the floor clearing meeting finally comes around._

The boy continued to stare over the landscape for multiple hours, occasionally checking on Asuna to see if she was still sleeping, but every time she looked more comfortable than the last time he checked. He could almost see the stress coming off of her body as she relaxed more and more. The sun finally started to set and he saw the area in a whole new light as the entire floor became basked in the reds and oranges that the sun gave off. _It's been a good day,_ he smiled and heard a sneeze from behind him.

Kirito turned around and saw Asuna moving around on the floor, _is she awake?_ It seemed like she stopped moving and was going to drift back to sleep, but then her upper body lifted up and she pushed herself with her hands so she was almost up on her knees. Her head turned both ways as she had just woken up from a great dream and was trying to regain her bearings, not remembering going to sleep in the first place. The boy looked at her cute face with a smile, trying not to say anything about the grass strand that was stuck to her face, or the line of saliva that had dripped out of her mouth in her sleep. "W-What..."

Kirito decided to mess with her and turned on the stone wall, tilting his head so that she could see his face better. "Morning, sleep well?" _Wrong move! _he panicked as the girl jumped to her feet and reached for her sword, gripping it with both hands. He was not expecting that reaction at all and sweat started dripping down his face and he fell off the wall onto the grass behind the stone wall. _I can use this for cover,_ he poked his head over it and watched as Asuna's angry face twisted.

The boy couldn't make out what kind of expression she had on her face as she looked down at the ground. The hand holding her sheath slowly lowered as she slid the length of the weapon she had pulled out back into it. Her right hand started shaking in anger as she ground her teeth together, "One meal..."

"Uh," Kirito looked at her confused but the girl shot up and looked away from him to the right. _What?_

"I'll treat you just this once, to anything you want. Then we'll be even! Deal?" she looked back at him with an angry look on her face, but he could see the gratitude underneath it.

"Umm," she looked at him with a softer expression, fearing that she was scaring him into saying no. "Sure," he paused and stood back up fully, "Ever been to Martin?" the girl shook her head no, "Oh, it's a town on the fifty-seventh floor. There's a pretty good restaurant there if you want to go."

"Yeah, let's go," she started walking down the path and he had to hop the stone wall and run over to catch up. When they got to the restaurant, everyone's eyes were focused on them.

"Is that the Lightning Flash of the Knights of the Blood Oath?"

"Whoa, why is she down from the front line?"

"Who's that guy dressed in black?"

Kirito looked around at all the people that kept glancing over towards them, "You're really popular, it's like everyone in the game knows your name."

"Well I'm sure if you were wearing your signature black cloak, people would recognize you too." He looked down at his blue and black shirt, _hmm, nah, I'd rather not have the attention._ "Anyway, thanks for today," she said to him and he looked up at her. _Huh? Thought she was mad about that, why can't I understand these type of things?_ "For watching over me," _ohhh._

"Y-yeah, no problem."

"The towns are safe areas, but the sleep PKs," they both grew silent thinking about the duels they could be challenged to while they slept. He wasn't too worried about it, but it seemed like Asuna was really unnerved by her decision to fall asleep in the open. "If someone had come and manipulated my finger, making me accept while I slept..."

"They didn't," he stated.

"It could have happened, so, thank you," she put her hands together over the table and looked down at them.

"Uh, y-you're welcome," the two of them were still waiting for their food to come out, but jumped out of their seats when a shrill scream was heard outside. They looked out the window and saw people running so they ran outside and started following the crowd to where the sound of the scream came from.

When Kirito and Asuna arrived in the square, the sun had almost set. There was still enough light that people could see the man in the air perfectly. Both of the front-line fighters lowered their bottom lips and started sweating as they saw a man with a sword through his chest. _We're in a safe zone, this is impossible,_ Kirito closed his eyes and opened them again but the man was still floating there. "Pull it out!"

"You stay down here and catch him," Asuna said as she ran inside the building in front of them. The man above was in full silver armor and a helmet but Kirito could see the look of pain on the man's face inside it. There was a rope extending out of the window of the building that kept the man floating in the air and he started twirling around, tightening the rope further.

"Got it," he ran underneath the man, "hold on!" Asuna ran inside and was sprinting up the stairs fast, she could hear Kirito's screams from outside. "Damn it hold on!"

"Ugh, raar, arrgghh," the man let out one last loud groan and then disappeared. A bunch of blue shards scattered into the sky and the sword that was sticking through his chest dropped out of the air.

Kirito followed the red blade through the air until it hit the floor with a loud clank that seemed to echo through the square. _He's dead, how could he be dead? This is a safe zone, THIS IS A SAFE ZONE!_ _To be defeated here there's no other way except being defeated in a duel._ "Everyone, look for the duel winner sign!" Everyone stopped panicking and looked around, whispering to each other. As Kirito looked around the square, his indicators showed there was no winner, which meant there was no duel. _This doesn't make any sense._

"There's no one inside," Asuna called out from the window. She got to it right as the blue shards were floating up past her and she knew what had become of the man.

The boy walked over and grabbed the red sword, turning back and jogging inside the building. He ran up the stone staircase and pushed open the wooden door to the upstairs room. Asuna was leaning against a wall, staring at the rope with just as confused a look as Kirito had, only hers was a lot angrier.

"What's the deal here?" _There has to be an explanation, people just can't die in safe zones._ The girl was pissed, but Kirito was too distracted by the mechanics of what happened to truly care for the man who had just died.

"It looks like he was impaled by the weapon, then got a noose tied around his neck, and was pushed out the window. That's the most obvious explanation."

"But there was no winner icon," Kirito said. _There wasn't a duel, but someone still died._

"That's impossible," she said but Kirito's face showed he was serious.

"Who could have done this?" the boy asked.

"I don't know, but whoever it is, is going to pay," she growled.

"It just doesn't make sense," Kirito walked over to where the rope was tied down and he grabbed it. "How could this have happened, he should have been protected by the safe area." Asuna looked at him with a confused look, he sounded disturbed, as if his entire world was being flipped upside down.

"Calm down, right now we need to find out who the murderer is. Then we can ask them how they did it," she moved over to him and held out a hand, "It might mean stepping off of the front lines for a while, but we can't ignore this. I guess there's no choice, you'll have to cooperate with me until we've resolved this." He agreed and they walked for the door and started heading back downstairs. The two walked out the front of the building and saw the huge crowd was still gathered, they were searching for answers. "Does anyone know what happened?"

Everyone in the crowd looked at one another and then back up at Asuna and shrugged. All of a sudden, a small girl in the middle of the group raised her hand, "Um, I think I can help." She walked over and started talking to the two warriors in front of the building. "I was with that man, we came into the town to get dinner, b-but, we got separated." She was holding back tears and whispered, "Oh God, Kains, he's really dead."

The girl was shorter than the other two, but she was older than them. Her hair was purple and she had a lot of freckles, and after talking to Kirito and Asuna for a little, they found out her name was Yolko.

"By any chance, are you the one who let out that first scream?" Kirito asked and she nodded. _I thought I recognized her voice, she must have screamed loud when she saw her friend up there, well I guess that's the normal reaction._ He looked at her funny but she went on to explain why her and Kains were in the city to them.

"Did you see anyone else at that time?" Asuna asked as she comforted the girl on her shoulder.

"It was just for a second," the girl said in a whisper, between tears, "but I thought I saw someone in the window behind him." She said she didn't recognize who it was.

"Sorry to ask this, but is there a reason anyone would want to kill Kains?" Kirito watched the girl's face closely. At first her eyes went wide but then she closed them and looked down, shaking her head. _Something's off, there's something missing here. What are you hiding Yolko?_

The two of them walked Yolko all the way back to the lodge she was staying at before leaving her alone. "If we find out who made that sword, we might have a better idea at who the murderer is," Asuna said while they walked down the street.

"Then we'll need someone with the appraisal skill, and neither of us have it..." _but I know just the person to ask._

"Must you address me so curtly?!" _well that was out of nowhere._ Kirito looked at the girl in surprise, _she must have gotten used to being treated like royalty around the KoBO._

"Well, maybe, 'Miss' then?" she frowned so he came up with another response, "How about Lady Vice Commander?" he looked nervous but secretly he was enjoying watching the looks on Asuna's face. She frowned again and this time he was sure that he had the right one, "Lady Lightning Flash?" He was actually prepared for her to hit him for that one but she just sighed.

"Just call me Asuna," he resisted the urge to laugh as that was what he'd been doing whenever they saw each other for over a year.

"Alright, let's go," he said and started walking, "we'll head to a merchant I know." She looked at him funny as he called out the name, but followed suit after him, "Teleport: Algade."

The two of them walked off of the busy streets and into the alleyways that were still filled with a lot of people and shops. The whole area looked like the ghetto, or the slums of some city in the real world, but Asuna was surprised that such a place existed. _Where are we?_ she watched as a door opened and a disgruntled man holding a spear walked out of a building muttering curses.

"I see you're still as ruthless a businessman as ever," Kirito stated as he walked into the door. Asuna followed behind and watched the warm greeting between Kirito and a man she'd fought with in many boss battles, Agil. _I wonder if he remembers me?_

"Yo, is that you Kirito?" The man turned from where he was bent down behind the counter and walked over, giving the kid a fist bump. The bald black man continued, "Buy cheap and sell cheap, that's my motto."

"I don't know about that second part," Kirito commented, _you're prices are higher than everyone around here, it's amazing you're still in business._

"Don't go slandering my good name kid," the two of them chuckled and then Agil's eyes went wide as he saw the beauty walk into the shop behind Kirito. He panicked and grabbed the kid by the shoulders, pulling him over the counter and ducking behind it. "W-what's happened Kirito? You're a solo player, so what're you doing here with Asuna of all people?!" His whispers could be heard from the other side of the counter an the girl went a little red in the cheeks. "I thought you two didn't get along, is she here to beat you up? If that's the case then take it outside, if the two of you powerhouses start duking it out in here, my inventory is going to be trashed. Tell me!"

Kirito calmly explained to Agil why he was there and why Asuna was helping him. The man seemed to be appeased by the answer, but he was still sweating as he agreed to take them into the back room where he lived. The girl was talking to them as Agil sat on his bed and the other two sat in chairs next to it. The sword was between the three of them, sitting on a table, "...so it definitely wasn't a sleep PK."

"We can be certain that it was a premeditated PK," Kirito agreed talking to Agil. "Which brings us to this," he looked down at the red blade with little spiked coming out of the sides.

"Hmm, that blade is meant for killing," Agil started and lifted it, admiring the craftsmanship. "See the barbs on the sides," he pointed at the small curved spikes sticking out, "these are put on weapons so that removing them causes more injuries, internally. It should be very difficult to pull this blade out once it's in." He opened up a menu for the weapon using his appraisal skill, "Let's see," the other two watched in anticipation, hoping the man could find out a clue for them.

After a few seconds, Agil started in a low voice, "It's a player made weapon."

"Really?" Kirito leaned forwards. _I was hoping for that, but the odds were slim at best._

"Who is it?" the vice commander of the KoBO asked. "The one who made it?"

"Grimlock. Never heard of him. Not any of the top-ranked blacksmiths I can tell you that," he said and then made eye contact with Kirito and they both frowned. "There's nothing particularly unusual about the weapon."

Asuna saw the weird look the two men gave each other and said, "It should still be a clue." _What am I missing that they know?_

"Tell us the item's name if you can," Kirito commanded and Agil scrolled through the details.

"Guilty Thorn is its listed name," both men frowned deeper, "In other words, 'thorn of sin.'"

"What is it?" Asuna asked as Kirito grabbed the sword from the man and looked over the blade. "Why are you so worried?"

She saw Agil's face turn sour but Kirito was the one to start talking, "The man Grimlock isn't on any of the top-ranked blacksmith lists." She nodded, not seeing what that meant, "but this sword is definitely of a high caliber. We were on one of the highest floors and it still killed someone. We should know about this Grimlock unless..."

"Unless he's only providing weapons for red guilds," Asuna finished his sentence and the two males nodded. "But, we can't be sure of this," _Guilty Thorn does sound like an evil name, but I'm not one to judge off of assumptions._ "We need to stay unbiased for this investigation."

"You're right," Kirito stared at the blade in his right hand and decided, _we have to know if it's the blade._ He raised it up in the air and held out his left palm, bringing the sword down fast to stab himself.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Asuna shouted at him as she caught his arm, stopping the strike before it hit.

"Why?" he asked confused at her reaction.

"What do you mean, why?" _That could have killed him,_ "Are you stupid? That weapon's already killed someone."

"But we can't be sure unless we try," _I guess trying on myself isn't a great idea, but I'm not going to try it on anyone else first so..._

"Stop doing reckless things like that!" she still hadn't removed her hand from his wrist as it seemed like he was still planning on stabbing his hand with the sword. She moved her hand up and snatched the handle from out of Kirito's hand.

"Hey!"

"As for this," she turned to the bed where the muscular black man was watching them nervously. "Agil, please hold on to it for us."

"Uh, sure," he said, grabbing the sword with caution. He didn't want to be killed in the safety of his own home, but he wasn't too worried about the weapon attacking him in his sleep.

"Now, we need to ask Yolko more about this case. Maybe she knows Grimlock," Asuna offered and Kirito remembered the girl's face when he asked if she knew anything. _Yeah, she was hiding something alright, we'll find out what's going on here._

Kirito checked the time and then chuckled, "It can wait until tomorrow," he said as the two of them walked for the exit of Agil's house. They thanked the man and walked out, but Asuna seemed to be ready to argue with him about waiting, "Asuna, it's already past midnight." The girl was astonished and went into her menu, seeing that the boy was right.

"How did it get so late?!" she exclaimed in the middle of the alley and Kirito hushed her.

"Quiet, people are trying to sleep." He smiled at the in game humor since gamers could sleep through duels with other players, her shouting wasn't going to do anything. "We just had too much excitement today that time flew past us," she agreed. "I'm going to go home, meet up with you at the restaurant in Martin?"

"Huh?" she asked him as he started walking away from her. "The warp gate is this way," he nodded as he looked back at her.

"I know, I live here in Algade," _well I have a permanent inn room open for me. Most of the time I just rent another on the top floor I'm working on._ "See you tomorrow morning, nine o'clock we meet in Martin before heading off to see Yolko?"

She stared at the boy who was smiling pretty wide compared to usual. "S-Sure, I guess," Asuna said and he waved at her before jogging down the street. _Was that really Kirito?_ No matter how late it was, she didn't feel all that tired because of the nap she took earlier that day. _Thanks again for watching over me all day Kirito._

When Asuna reached the square, it was already one o'clock a.m., and she figured there was no point in heading to Granzam to check in with her sleeping guild. There would probably be a few members still awake, but she could just send an update to Godfree tomorrow. _Maybe I could check out more of Algade, it's such a big city I won't be able to even see half of it by morning._ She walked over to one side of the square and leaned up against the wall as she went into her inventory to pull out a map of the city.

She'd been scouting out a route to take for five minutes when she heard a noise coming from the other side of the square. She put away her map and ducked into the shadows, _who would be awake this late?_ Her hiding skill was impressive, she was stealthy even while wearing her white and red uniform.

From across the square, a figure moved out from a main street and started walking to the middle of the area. The person had on a brown cloak with a hood that covered his or her face. _Doesn't look like a red guild member, but maybe that's what he's going for._ She put a hand on his weapon and saw the person in the middle of the center turn left and right. When he turned towards her she released her sword and opened her mouth in an 'O' shape. _Kirito?_

"Teleport: Taft," she heard him shout and a blue light surrounded him, taking him away from there. She moved out of hiding once he was gone, and then she went towards the middle of the square to where the free teleporter was. Blue teleport crystals cost a lot of money, so traveling from a town center was always the best option. _But why head down to floor eleven? He said his home was up here?_

She waited a minute before calling out the same thing as her partner and appearing in the empty square of the much smaller town thirty-nine floors down. _Hmm, this is a nice town, should have spent more time here when I passed through._

Asuna looked around the streets that were a lot more organized than Algade's and turned on her scanner. Her vision turned green and she could just barely see the faded yellow footsteps that were left by Kirito. _His hiding skill must be great if his tracks are vanishing this soon after leaving them._ She gave him a quick compliment and then followed the fading footsteps down the street to her left.

The vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath stopped when the tracks got thicker. She was getting close and went to hide in the shadows. _Better if he doesn't see me following him. Wait, why am I following him? This is weird,_ she went into her inventory and put on a maroon cloak so that he wouldn't recognize her even if she was caught.

The boy she was looking for stopped in front of an inn down the street and Asuna snuck closer, keeping just enough distance between them to make sure he didn't see her coming. _I'll guess his detection is ten levels higher than mine just to be on the safe side, that means my distance has to be..._ Asuna stopped moving where she was and took a step back, _can I really hear from this far away?_ She focused her mind on one thing only and stared over at Kirito who was smiling at the building.

Suddenly, his face twitched painfully and his hair lowered over his eyes. The boy removed the hood of his cloak and Asuna stared at the odd smile he kept on his face as he bent down in front of a lone tree outside the inn. "Hey guys," she heard him whisper, "sorry I haven't come to visit in a while." The smile on his face remained, but Asuna could tell from the tone of his voice, he was sad being there.

_Taft... TAFT! This is where he said that him and his old guild used to use as a base. Which means that tree is,_ she zoomed in as far as she could and was surprised to see a rock at the base of the tree, five names inscribed into it.

"But I've got great news, I'm in a party right now. It's been a while, but I'm working on a case." He started talking all about the mystery as he sat down criss cross in front of the tree and Asuna started to feel extremely odd that she was standing there watching all of this.

"Haha..." he chuckled softly and then stared at the rock for a few more seconds. The look of sadness he had when he first bent down disappeared as he talked, but it was back again as his hair recovered his eyes. "You know, I really miss you guys. Ducker, Sasarmaru, Tetsuo, you guys were like the younger brothers I never had. Sometimes I'll be smiling and talking to my friend Klein, but when your faces appear next to his..." he trailed off of his sentence. "Keita," she heard his voice crack and his face looked especially pained, "you remember when we were talking on that field, and you said you wished that the front lines would change? Well things are changing, people are sharing secrets, we're all working together again to try and defeat this world."

_He's right, Will has become a lot more helpful in giving us information the DDA acquires. Anyway, I should go,_ she started to step backwards to escape without Kirito noticing she was ever there.

"Hey Sachi," the boy said, his hair lifting up and a real smile coming back, "you remember Asuna?" The retreating girl froze and listened in closer, "She's the one I'm partying with. It's such a hassle always arguing with her, I always got along much better with you." The girl in the shadows growled in her mind but her face softened as Kirito reached out a hand and rested it over the girl's name. "I-I, I'm afraid Sachi," he whispered and Asuna could swear she saw a tear coming down Kirito's face but she couldn't tell for sure since he was a good distance away and his face was shadowed. "Today, she fell asleep on the grass outside, it wasn't too rare of a thing to do, but I was so worried. I found myself turning over my shoulder every couple of minutes because I was afraid something was going to happen to her."

She saw him put his arms at his side and stare at the rock, as if awaiting some sort of response from it. "I feel like something bad is going to happen, and I'm not going to be able to protect her... just like," he stared silent at the rock, his chest hurting. He had to stop speaking so that he could will himself not to break down. A false smile appeared back on his face, "I promise I'll come to visit again soon. It won't be as long as last time," he got up on his feet.

Asuna started backing away but her foot bumped into a basket on the floor outside a building. She cursed herself for being so clumsy and then looked up, but her eyes grew wide as she saw the look of rage on Kirito's face. _I have to go now!_ she turned and ran out of the shadows and into the nearest alleyway.

_Someone was watching me! WHO IS IT?!_ Kirito sprinted down the street and turned into the alley only to see the last wisps of a blue light vanishing in the air. _Oh I hope that whoever that was is part of a red guild, because when I find them..._ he walked back on the street and looked back over at the tree. He sighed, _No, the others wouldn't want that, it was just a curious person. There's no need to get worked up over it,_ he headed back for the square so he could teleport back to Algade and go to sleep. _Need to meet up with Asuna tomorrow morning,_ a genuine smile spread across his face.

On floor fifty-five, Asuna was panting like crazy and leaning up against the wall of some alleyway in Granzam. Even after she teleported she didn't stop running, there was a small chance that Kirito could follow her up here and she wanted to be gone just in case. _I know,_ she went in her inventory and took back off her maroon cloak in favor of her white one. _Now by the slim chance he gets up here, he won't know that I saw... that. What was that?_

Asuna had lost comrades on other floors before, she'd seen a lot of people who had, but none took it as badly as Kirito. A few people chose to end their own lives, but that meant they no longer felt the pain that he lived through all this time, _that's not just grief, that's guilt I heard in his voice. I need to talk to him about that, even if it means letting him know that I followed him tonight._ With her mind set, she headed to an inn to spend the remainder of her night.

The following day, Asuna met up with Kirito outside of the lodge that their star witness was staying in. Once they got to talk to Yolko, they had her follow them back to the restaurant where they all sat at the table Kirito and Asuna ate at the day before. The two of them had tea before them, but Yolko had a bottle of wine and a wine glass.

"It's nine in the morning," Kirito whispered to the girl next to him in concern.

"She's grieving," Asuna tried to back her up and then smiled at the woman to try and made her feel at ease, "Tell us Yolko-san, have you ever heard the name "Grimlock?"

The way she jumped at the name told both investigators she did and Yolko knew she let on so she sank back into her chair and explained. The man was a member of her guild, and when she heard them say that he was the one who crafted the weapon, she went into the background of Grimlock's relation to her and Kains. The man's wife had been killed because of a dispute over a rare item and the Golden Apples broke apart. No one knew how Griselda was killed, but their guild ended when she was killed.

"Sleep PK?" Kirito asked, "There's no way someone would leave a safe area with such a valuable item on them."

"It was before the tactic started being used," Yolko denied.

"Whoever knew her must have been a player who knew about the ring." This put the blame on one of the other seven members of Golden Apple. Taking Kains out of the picture, and assuming that it wasn't Yolko who did it, that left five members. _Looks like Grimlock really is suspicious, _Yolko went into how nice the couple of Griselda and Grimlock were and he started to doubt himself. They talked for a little more about the woman once in charge of their guild, how she could have been killed.

After Kirito suggested that the ones opposed to selling it were more suspicious, Yolko said in a quiet voice, "If Grimlock-san is responsible for yesterday's murder, he must be after the three who voted against selling the ring."

_That means..._ both of the others were surprised that they were narrowed down to two suspects for Griselda's murder, and one of whom was sitting right in front of them.

"Two of the three opposed to selling the ring were myself and Kains," Yolko said.

"Then who was the other one?" _This might be a murderer, or it could be the next victim, or maybe it's both._

"A tank named Schmitt. I heard he's joined up with the Divine Dragon Alliance on the front lines." Both of the fighters in front of Yolko leaned back in their seats.

"Schmitt? I know that name," Kirito was trying to put his finger on where he knew the man from.

"He leads the DDA's defensive forces," Asuna told him, knowing the names and abilities of most people on the front line. "He's a large-lance user."

"Oh, him," now Kirito remembered the man and even remembered fighting with him a few times during boss battles. _Could he really have killed Griselda?_

"You know Schmitt?" Yolko asked, surprised by the amazing people in front of her.

"Well, I've only run into him a few times while clearing bosses..."

"Could you possibly let me see Schmitt?" Yolko asked suddenly. "He probably hasn't heard about what occurred," the girl finished her sentence and both fighters in front of her realized something at the same time.

"Kirito?"

"Asuna?"

They turned and looked each other in the eyes, "Where was the gunshot?" Both questions came out of their mouths simultaneously and they continued staring at each other in confusion. "When Kains died, no picture appeared in the sky," Kirito thought back and everyone was too preoccupied by what was going on to pay attention to that small detail.

"Maybe it's because the death was unnatural," Asuna offered, "it happened inside a safe zone. The program must be having a hard enough time with just that, it probably doesn't understand that someone died."

"It most likely thinks it's a glitch in the system," Yolko stated in a nervous voice. "Dying in a town is so unheard of, that even the computers are probably confused and didn't set off the cannon. Maybe..." she looked up at the ceiling, a sense of dread falling over the room.

"Anyway," Yolko looked back down at the others and then outside where it started raining. "If Schmitt doesn't know, what happened to Kains could happen to him too."

Asuna leaned forwards over the table and agreed, "Let's summon Schmitt. I know people in the Divine Dragon Alliance. If we go to their HQ, I think we'll find a way to call him. Is he still on you friends list?" The girl shook her head so Asuna stuck with her original plan and got ready to set off to get Schmitt.

Before they left, the two of them walked Yolko back to her inn again. It was dangerous everywhere they went, but at least in the inn she could lock her door and hide.

While they walked back down the street to the teleporter, Asuna asked Kirito, "How do you think this safe-zone murder was carried out? There are so many anomalies that have never occurred in the game before."

_She's right, it's unlike Kayaba to have a mistake in the game like this. _"I see three possibilities: First is a fair-duel gone wrong and the challenger ran away afterwards, this is the least likely. The second is that someone found a way to exploit the system and combined the version of sleep PKing with a way to kill while the person is awake."

"That could be true, what about the third?" the girl asked as she stared at Kirito. The boy had a hand under his chin and he was deep in thought.

"Some unknown skill, which bypasses the protection of the safe areas. Or possibly an item." Kirito just threw theories out there.

"It would be scary if those things existed," Asuna whispered and the boy nodded in agreement. _That person would be like a god in this world._

"I think the third is impossible though," he stated and stopped walking, still scratching his chin with his right thumb.

"Why?" the second in command of the KoBO asked him.

"Because it's unfair," _Kayaba doesn't make mistakes, glitches like this wouldn't be in his perfect game. He wouldn't allow an item or skill like that either,_ "I hate to admit it, but SAO's rules are essentially fair. There's no way this game would allow murders in the safe zone," _which begs the question, HOW?!_ Kirito couldn't wrap his mind around the case at all.

They thought it would be easier to explain once Schmitt was with them, so the two went to Divine Dragon HQ and requested that Schmitt come to them. It didn't take much convincing after they explained the situation to one of his superiors, and within a half an hour, the man was with them.

They decided to explain on the way, and teleported back to Martin before telling the man that Kains was murdered. "It was in a safe-zone, so we're bringing you with us in case someone tries to get you as well."

"INSIDE A SAFE ZONE!?" The man screamed and started to panic.

"Maybe we should have told him once we got to Yolko's inn room," Kirito mumbled and his partner agreed.

"Yolko's here too, oh no," the man realized why they thought he was being targeted. "You think the murderer is after my old guild members, including me?"

"No," Asuna said as they reached the inn, "only the members who voted against selling the ring." At the mention of the item, sweat started dripping down Schmitt's face and he stopped talking. _Well that's a first,_ Kirito smiled at the quiet they didn't have since the man appeared before them.

They got to Yolko's room and the woman let them in, the whole room was dark and a feeling of eeriness filled it. They went over everything they knew with Schmitt as the man tapped his iron plated boot on the ground over and over. He was very heavily armored and only his head was vulnerable. When they finished explaining, Asuna saw him do the same thing as Kirito and start scratching his chin as he thought. "Is it true that Kains was killed with Grimlock's weapon?" The lancer asked in a serious tone.

_Wow he's taking this much calmer than I thought he would, _Asuna thought as Yolko answered the man's question. "Yes, it is." _Maybe I was wrong..._

Schmitt jumped up to his feet and yelled, panicking, "Why would Kains be killed after all this time? He... did he steal the ring? Was he the one who killed Griselda?"

Kirito was looking for any signs of the man lying to them, _I don't think he killed Griselda, but... he's hiding something too. _

The man sat back down in his chair across from Yolko. Asuna and Kirito were on different sides of the semi-dark room, the only light coming in from the open window. Schmitt slammed a metal gloved fist onto his knee and asked, "Does Grimlock plan to kill the three of us who opposed selling the ring?"

_That seems like the most obvious answer,_ the sixteen year old thought. He looked at Asuna to see if she thought that Schmitt was lying, but the girl just shook her head, still as confused as ever.

"It could be another member, for whom Grimlock made the spear," Yolko stated and Kirito's head lifted up in surprise. _I never really thought about that, Grimlock was her husband, so he seems to have the most motive for revenge, but the others could have been just as attached to their leader._ "Or perhaps..."

_Wow, Yolko really has been thinking about this a lot._ Asuna was amazed at the girl's deduction skills, she had come up with a lot of possibilities.

"It may be Griselda's revenge," Yolko finished.

_What?_ Asuna's mouth opened a little. The wind chose that exact moment to blow into the room and the curtains blew open, making the eerie room get all the more creepy.

The woman explained her reasoning, "Because no one could kill someone inside a safe zone unless they were a ghost." Kirito looked at her in disbelief, _Asuna said unnatural, not supernatural._ The two of them looked at each other with skeptical looks, but Schmitt panicked and started breathing faster and sweating more. Yolko's eyes were wide and she stared straight ahead, "I stayed awake all last night thinking..."

_Uh oh,_ Asuna had thought the girl was making a lot of sense, but she seemed on the verge of breaking.

As if to prove the orange-haired girl's point, Yolko hunched over and screamed at the ground, "In the end, you could say it was all of us guild members who killed Griselda!" She put her hands in front of her eyes and screamed louder, "When that ring dropped, we shouldn't have ever voted..."

"Calm down Schmitt," Kirito saw the man was being convinced by Yolko's rant and he looked like he was about to pee his pants if it was possible.

"We should have just done what Griselda told us to do!" she pulled her hands away from her eyes and they were vibrating as the girl shook in terror. Kirito and Asuna stood still and stared at the girl who had just cracked. _Holy, damn she's going to need some help once we get back to the real world._ Kirito watched her step back towards the open window and she seemed to be calming down a little, her voice quieter and more composed, "Grimlock was the only one who said we should just leave it to Griselda. So he has the right to take revenge for Griselda on the rest of us."

_This is more of a guild issue than ours, we should let them decide how to handle it,_ Asuna looked at Schmitt who was shaking in his seat, "You're kidding me. You're kidding me," he got louder the second time. The man buried his face in his hands, "After all this time, six whole months. Why now?"

_For a front-liner, he's pretty soft, _Kirito hadn't seen the man hold a calm expression for more than a minute the entire time they'd been with each other. Even right after they summoned him, he was constantly worrying why the Black Knight and Lightning Flash had called him.

"You're okay with this Yolko?" the man got up angrily. "You're okay with being killed in such an insane way?!"

Kirito grabbed the man's arm and Schmitt turned to look at the boy. The black-haired kid shook his head, Yolko needed a few minutes to calm down before they could start talking in a sane conversation again. The two of them looked back forwards and saw Yolko's face go pale.

"Yolko?" Asuna asked, taking a small step closer and then freezing. Her, Kirito, and Schmitt all dropped their jaws a few inches as Yolko started to sway next to the windowsill.

The girl with purple hair stared at the three of them with a lifeless expression on her face and started to turn to her right. She rested a hand on the windowsill to try and regain her balance, but it was no use. Yolko finished turning around, stumbling about, and the three front line fighters in the room stared in shock at the dagger sticking out of her back. There was a huge red gash with little particles floating out of it, looking like she was spewing blood. The girl started to topple out the window and Kirito was the first to snap back to reality and sprinted towards her but she was already out. "Yolko-San!" he shouted as he watched her body drop through the ar towards the street below.

The girl hit the ground and disappeared in a flash of blue light, the dagger in her back dropping to the pavement below where her body just vanished. His shock lasted for a few seconds, _who did this!?_ He snapped his head up and saw a figure cloaked in black standing on a roof down the block from them. The man was at least five houses down and had a hood on, "Asuna, take care of Schmitt." Kirito leapt out the window and landed on the roof across the street.

"Stop!" _whoever it is can kill in the safe zone._ Kirito was already gone and couldn't hear her however, _stay alive Kirito._

The boy was fast, and he soon realized he was much faster than his enemy as he caught up in a matter of seconds. He was running on a roof across the alley of the one the man was running on. The man smirked and pulled out a blue crystal as Kirito was too close to him now for him to escape any other way.

_Oh no you don't,_ "Dammit!" he threw three throwing needles at the man and they were on track to knock the crystal out and do some damage. When the weapons got close however, they bounced off of the purple forcefield that surrounded players in safe-zones. _Where's he planning on going?_ Kirito tried to listen to where the man was teleporting, but right as the figure opened his mouth, the bell tower in the city started ringing. It rang every day twice, at noon and midnight. "Shit," he muttered as the man disappeared without a trace and he had no clue as to which city he teleported to.

Kirito got off of the roof and landed in the middle of a crowd of people, who all turned and stared at the weird kid. He ignored them and headed back to the inn Asuna and Shmitt were waiting for him at. _Who was it? Laughing Coffin seems like the most obvious choice from the clothing, but they wouldn't run, and why would they be attacking these people? Does it have nothing to do with Griselda? Or was that man Grimlock in disguise?_

He got back to the inn and headed upstairs to what was Yolko's room and opened the door. "You idiot! Stop being so reckless!" the girl in white had her sword drawn and slowly sheathed it. Kirito noticed Schmitt holding his head in his lap, and the curtains were closed over the window so no one could see inside the room. "Well, what happened?" she asked putting her hands on her hips.

"He got away by teleporting," Kirito clenched his right fist, his left was holding the dagger that he'd picked up outside the front door. "Inside the inns, we're protected by the system. I was certain she'd be safe here, Damn!" he punched the wall with his free hand making a purple warning indicator appear.

"That robe was Griselda's," the two of them looked over to Schmitt who was trembling in his chair. "It was Griselda's ghost." _I take back what I thought before about him being soft. Anyone would be breaking down in this situation,_ "She's finally come to get revenge on us!" The man started laughing, confirming Kirito's theory that he'd lost it. "For a ghost, pulling off a safe-zone PK would be simple right? Ahahahaha," sweat was pouring down his face.

Asuna looked at the Assault Team member with pity, and she even started to believe it, _a ghost hmm?_ "There was no ghost," she turned to Kirito who had started speaking. "There has to be systemic logic to these safe-zone murders." _Wow, he looks on the brink of snapping as well. These kills are really breaking his grip on the reality of this game._ "There's just got to be."

The two of them made sure that Schmitt was going to be okay, and then headed outside to talk in private. They sat down on a park bench and continued their conversation, Asuna starting, "I wonder if that black robed figure was really Griselda's ghost?" _We are trapped in a video game, and people are dying in safe zones, a ghost doesn't seem too far fetched any more._ "Seeing those two deaths happen right before my eyes, even I'm starting to think it's true."

"No, that couldn't happen. First off," _I can't believe I'm even humoring this idea. _"A ghost wouldn't have had to use a teleport crystal... teleport crystal?" _Wait, what if... no, couldn't be._

"What is it?" the girl asked him.

"No, it's nothing," _what would be the point in that? Just forget about it... but then again._

They sat on the bench for a while before Asuna held out a small package for him, "Here."

"You're giving it to me?" it looked like a wrapped lunch and Kirito was surprised, though he was starting to feel hungry right about then.

"What else would I be doing?" _sheesh,_ "You think I'm just showing it off or something?"

"Uh, t-thanks then," he grabbed the pink package and unwrapped it. Inside was a sandwich that looked like it was delicious.

"It's durability is low so eat it before it disappears," he needed no further encouragement and started chowing down.

"It's really good," he said honestly. _Wow, this is amazing, I have to find what restaurant she got it from._ "When did you find the time to pick up lunch?

"I prepared them this morning, just in case we didn't have any time to eat," she responded.

"Gotta hand it to the leader of the attack squad of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Where do you get these anyway?" He took another large bite of the delicious barbeque sandwich.

"They're not for sale, they didn't come from a store." He looked at her in surprise, "Even I can cook you know."

_Wow, she made me this sandwich,_ he laughed, feeling awkward, and told her that she could sell it for a lot of money. She didn't like his response and she stomped her foot on the ground, causing Kirito to fumble with his sandwich and drop it, and because of its low durability, it disappeared. "There are no second helpings," she said as she took another bite of her own sandwich, _NO!_ Kirito fell to his knees and grasped at the grass where his food should have been.

He stared down at the spot where the sandwich just disappeared, the blue crystals still in his mind. _Wait, a sandwich and a person look similar when they die... that's connected somehow. _"What's wrong?" Asuna asked but he shushed her.

_If something other than the person ran out of durability, it would look just like a person dying. That means, _"Ah ha! That's right, that's it!"

"What? What on Earth did you find out?" _he's on his knees for two seconds and now he thinks he's solved the mystery?_ She was still holding her sandwich and wanted to get back to eating it.

"I... we, we never actually saw a thing. We just thought we did, but we really saw something else." The girl on the bench had no idea what he was talking about and just kept staring at him. _What is he talking about?_ "There never was a weapon, or any kind of logic that would allow killing in the safe zones. The cannon never went off and we never saw any pictures."

"I don't understand," Asuna told him and he looked up at her, but saw a bunch of other bystanders looking at him as well.

"Listen," he got back on the bench and started to explain, "They're alive."

"What do you mean? We saw them die," she looked at his face and her eyes opened wide as she accepted it, "Th-They're alive!?"

"Yeah, both Yolko and Kains." _It all makes so much sense now._

"B-but..." she started.

He explained in detail rather than have her interrupt him every second. Health couldn't drop down to zero in a safe-zone, but an item's durability will. "Like with the sandwich right then," she thought about the sandwich exploding and thought about the others as well. "Yesterday, Kains's armor was pierced by that spear. The spear drained the armor's durability, not Kains's HP."

"Then what fell apart and scattered was," _he's right, we didn't see them die._

"It was just his armor. At the exact moment his armor was destroyed, he used a crystal to teleport away from inside of it. It has the same effect of someone dying but is completely different," Asuna was stunned, that meant that Kains faked his own death.

"But what about Yolko?" the orange-haired girl asked.

"The dagger was already in her back the whole time she spoke with us," he explained to her.

"The whole time?" _but we were all in the room with her._

"Remember, while she was in that room, she never once turned her back to us. As she talked, she must have kept an eye on her armor's durability. At the right moment, she acted as if a dagger was thrown from outside and had stabbed her."

Asuna thought for a second, "Which means the person in the black robe..."

"I don't think it was Grimlock, but Kains instead. Those two must have realized that they could use this method to fake their own deaths. And they could add a horrific twist like the safe zone murders." The boy was impressed that they were able to come up with such an impressive plan. _They should be on the front lines helping us out. Just because Golden Apple is destroyed, doesn't mean they all had to back away, at least Schmitt stayed... Schmitt!_

"So their goal was to close in on the culprit behind the ring murder, and expose him. Those two faked their own murders, to create an illusionary avenger." The KoBO member continued.

"They must have already been somewhat suspicious of Schmitt," _he was the last of the three, and if those two trusted each other, then the blame for Griselda's death would fall on him._ "Hey do you still have Yolko on your friends' list?" Kirito didn't add the girl, but he assumed she did.

To answer him, she pulled up a list and a map from her inventory, "Right now, she's in the field, on floor nineteen. On a small hill just outside of the town there."

"Anyway, our role in this case is finished. Let's let them deal with the rest," he got up and Asuna turned to him and nodded. _I would like to see how this ends, but he's right. This has always been a guild issue._ _Shmitt is strong, they might need our help... hmm._

"Let's go to a nicer restaurant this time to celebrate our solving of the case," she offered and he didn't see a problem with it. They got to the place but it was after the dinner rush and they were the only ones there.

The two were drinking tea before they ordered and Kirito spoke his mind, "We wound up playing right into Yolko's hands, but I don't really mind."

"Me neither," Asuna agreed. She stared at the boy who was smiling off to the side and whispered, "Hey." He turned his attention back to her and listened, "If it were you, what would you have said if a super-rare item dropped?"

"Let's see," he leaned back and crossed his arms, "Part of the reason I play solo is to avoid those situations"

"In our guild," she started, "it would belong to the person who got the drop. Those are the rules we play by," _"Kirito! Join us. Whoever gets it to drop the revival item keeps it, no hard feelings. That should be fair enough, right?" Those are the rules Klein plays by too._ Asuna saw a shadow cross Kirito's face, a dark time in his past being remembered again. She continued to keep the conversation going, "You know how in SAO no one knows what items dropped for whom unless it's self-reported? It's the only way to avoid having players secretly hoard stuff."

_Random drops do make the game more interesting,_ Kirito nodded.

"Also, it's because of that system," Asuna's face became softer and her voice quieter, "that marriage in this world has real meaning. If you marry, your item storage is shared right? Until then, you could've hidden whatever you wanted, but, once you're married you can't hide it anymore."

Kirito looked out the window with his arms still crossed, _shared storage? I guess I have heard about that, but..._

"Shared storage is quite a pragmatic system, but at the same time, I think it's very romantic as well." She sighed thinking wonderful thoughts and smiled at the waiter who brought them a bottle of wine and two plates full of food.

"Hey Asuna," he made eye contact with her, "have you ever gotten married?" She got angry and threatened him with a fork but he held up his hands in surrender, "That's not what I meant! You were just talking about how it's romantic and plastic..."

"No I didn't," she kicked him under the table, "I said romantic and _pragmatic,_" she said slower so he would understand. "It means practical for your information," she crossed her arms and turned to the side with a hmph.

_Ouch,_ he felt like reaching down and rubbing his shin but resisted the urge. "Practical? Marriage in SAO?" _A couple sharing their inventories, that sounds like it could be useful in a few situations._

"That's right! In a way, it throws everything out there doesn't it? It's like a common storage," she finished and his eyes narrowed.

_That would be useful if the husband or the wife dies, it would mean all the items and... wait, Wait..._ "Common storage," he scratched his chin. "If the spouse dies, what happens to the items?" _It can't be,_ "Item storage is shared, when one person dies, what happens to their items?"

_Is he talking about the case?_ "Are you talking about Griselda and Grimlock? Let's see, if one of them died..."

"Wouldn't everything go to the other?" he looked straight at her as she gasped and made eye contact with him.

Asuna continued where he left off, "Which would mean that the rare item in Griselda's storage..." he interrupted her again but she didn't mind, it was more like he was finishing her sentences for her.

"It should still be in Grimlock's storage, not in the killer's," he looked intense as he stared at the table.

"So it wasn't stolen?" she asked the solo player but he denied it.

"No it was stolen, Grimlock stole it from his own storage," her eyes opened wide as she realized what he was implying.

"But, they were husband and wife," she said in a saddened tone. Asuna didn't want to believe it, but the evidence all pointed to Grimlock killing his wife and stealing the ring for himself. "Could he really have killed her?"

"From what Yolko's told us, even if he could, he wouldn't have been able to. She sounded like a much better fighter, he would have had to hire others..." Kirito stopped and started putting the pieces together.

"Like Laughing Coffin," she offered and he winced, thinking about a few of the members that he'd met personally.

"Exactly," thoughts were rushing through his head, "Kains and Yolko must have told Grimlock about their plan though. They got him to make the weapons for them to fake their deaths with." Kirito thought for a second at why the man would do that, "But, this safe-zone PK was bound to draw attention to a long forgotten case, so why would he do it?"

"Unless he thought they'd do it anyway," Asuna stated, putting down her silverware. "Then they'd be able to corner Schmitt, and three loose ends could all be taken out at the same time." The girl was already opening her menu and got out of her seat fast as she saw Yolko was still atop the hill on the nineteenth floor.

"Grimlock wouldn't go alone, there are most likely LC members on that hill right now," Kirito got up and started running for the door. Asuna got right next to him and typed a message Godfree as she sprinted down the street.

"They won't be able to mobilize and get down there quick enough," Asuna told him and then the two of them teleported down almost forty floors to the 19th. "Let's go, this way," she started running in the direction her map told her that Yolko was in. It was already pitch black outside and the perfect time for a murder guild to come out.

"Wait," he stopped her by grabbing her arm and they froze at the outskirts of town. "We don't know how many Laughing Coffin members are out here, but they're insane. Don't try fighting them alone," she was going to retort that she was strong enough to take care of herself, but the reports she'd heard all over Aincrad told her not to underestimate them.

"I'll be careful," she promised him and the two of them stepped out of the safety of the town.

**A/N Oooh, bet you're mad I ended it there. Well, It's midnight as I write this and plan on starting a new chapter tomorrow, plus it's pretty long already and if I continue the next part it will go on for a couple thousand more words. Anyway, thanks for reading, leave a review below. Hope you enjoyed!**

Delta Marauder

The Geocrawler knocked Klien up a hill? Is that even possible? Anyways good chapter, update soon, and keep up the fantastic work. Also why am I the only one leaving a review for this story? This story is pretty ducking good.

**They got their butts kicked, but they managed to finally slay the beast! I do wish more people reviewed but thanks again for the feedback. Next time on SAOE, what will happen to Yolko, Schmitt, and Kains... LC WARNING.**


	9. Chapter 9

Kirito and Asuna ran through the grassy field outside the nineteenth floor's main town. The girl was looking at a map she had out and pointed to the left of where they were sprinting and they changed course a bit. "Asuna," Kirito started as he stopped right at the start of a forest, "wait."

"They could be in trouble right now, we have to get there as soon as possible," the girl turned around while still jogging but Kirito had stopped.

The boy's eyes turned green and he started scanning the forest in front of him, "I'll find Yolko and the others, I need you to scout out the woods in case the LC members are hiding from us. Grimlock could be around here too."

"You really think so?" Asuna looked around the dense woods, _it's dark. Whoever is lying in wait might get the drop on me, I need to be careful. _"Got it," she broke off and ran into the trees on Kirito's right, planning to flank her enemies.

Once the girl was out of sight, Kirito looked through the woods again in front of him. He knew that the people he was looking for were pretty far in front of him, but at this time of night they'd be the only ones there, so his scanners wouldn't be picking up other signals. _Where are you? There!_ He ran through the woods a little before stopping and watching again, now able to hear a bit of what was going on with his enhanced hearing. _A recording? So Schmitt really was involved in Griselda's murder. _

He watched Yolko and Kains, who he was glad were actually alive despite the proof he already had, and listened to them explain their doubts about Schmitt. Kains, Schmitt, and Yolko were in the middle of a clearing with a lone tree and a makeshift grave on it, _just like Sachi and the others' grave._ The lancer seemed to accept that he was being caught, but suddenly Kirito saw a flash of movement from the trees near the group of three.

Schmitt went down, his face hitting the dirt and a knife sticking out of his shoulder. The sixteen year old wasted no time and started running forwards, _pull it out and get up! What are you doing?_ The man wasn't moving and Kirito gasped, _he must be paralyzed, but how?_

The boy watched as three black cloaked figures walked out from their hiding spot in the trees. One man raised his sword to Kains and Yolko so neither of them moved. _This is bad, I need a plan,_ Kirito spun around three sixty degrees and then smirked, _good thing I did that messenger quest on floor twenty-nine._ The teen ran over and hopped on the wild horse standing under a tree, eating an apple off of one of its branches. The steed bucked a few times, but he calmed it down by petting its mane.

"Laughin Coffin," Kirito started riding towards the man on the next hill over. _If my detection skill was even a level lower, I might not have made it in time. I still might not,_ he was closer to the man now, but horses moved slower when they had to travel between trees instead of open fields.

He stopped riding when he was just on the outskirts of the clearing and looked closer at the group. The three men all had orange indicators over their heads, "This is quite a huge catch," _I know that voice,_ "He's one of the Divine Dragon Alliance's higher-ups."

_PoH is here, this is bad. _Kirito had once thought he could handle any member of the red guild if they came at him. However, some time in the last month, three KoBO members were ambushed by one man. Being the strongest guild in the game, the players thought they could handle the cloaked man, but he killed two of them and left the third man to wander back to his base, bumbling about what had happened. "Now then, what game should we play?" When the next man spoke, it made Kirito doubly as nervous.

All three men had LC symbols somewhere on their body, so Kirito wasted no time in devising a plan that would avoid having him fight against all three at once. "That game! Let's play _that_ game boss," _Johnny Black, he sounds crazier than last time. They must be letting him run wild unlike before. I should have kept a closer eye on Syra, then maybe she wouldn't have been... You couldn't have just let her live Johnny?_ "The game where they kill each other, and only the winner survives."

Yolko gulped and sweat was dripping down her face, but Kains stepped in front of her to make her feel better. Kirito clenched his fists angrily from atop the horse, _I can't believe they've actually made people do that before. They're sick!_ He looked around desperately for Asuna, but she was either too far away from him, or her camouflage skill made it harder for him to detect her as fast as the others.

"You say that, but last time we did, you killed the survivor anyway," the leader turned to Johnny and said.

"Ahh! Why'd you tell them that now?! It won't be a game anymore boss!" _They are all insane,_ Kirito stared at the last man who hadn't spoken yet and just saw the man chuckling underneath his hood, red eyes glowing from the shadow underneath it.

The man with the bag over his head shut up as the boss got ready to speak, "All right, let's get started." He started walking towards the limp body of Schmitt.

_I can't wait any longer,_ Kirito kicked the side of his horse and it started charging out of the trees and into the clearing. He looked ahead and saw PoH standing right over the Divine Dragon's body, raising a meat cleaver high into the air. The boy rushed his horse faster, _I'm not going to make it!_ Right as he thought the man was going to get the first hit in on Schmitt, he froze with his knife hovering just inches above the knight's face.

"Faster, faster, faster," he kept kicking the side of the horse, making it sprint towards the group of six. When he was almost there, the horse reared up in the air and neighed, bucking off its master who was continuously kicking it. A small notification appeared telling Kirito that his horse riding skill went from level two back to level zero and he frowned, grabbing his hurt butt.

As he stood up, he saw the three red guild members standing in a triangle and staring at him, weapons drawn. He sighed in relief, "Guess I made it just in time," _this could be very bad, one wrong move and they'll kill the others._ He cast a quick glance at the terrified Yolko and Kains, and then looked down to where a pathetic looking Schmitt was laying. He smacked the butt of his horse that was standing where it bucked him off, and the beast ran back into the forest the direction they came from. _Act calm._

Kirito started walking forwards with his arms at his side, not pulling his sword out. "So what are you going to do? I've got backup on the way. You want to fight thirty people from the Assault Team?" He thought that would unnerve his enemy and he pulled his silver sword, hoping he wouldn't need to draw Elucidator and show Laughing Coffin his secret skill. _Please, fall for the bluff,_ he glared at the shadowed face of the man standing in front of the other two.

To the leader's back right, the man with red eyes made a tssk sound and looked prepared to charge in and slice up the kid who was challenging them. The leader snapped a finger however, and both men behind him sheathed their weapons, the red-eyed man swinging it around in a flashy style first. "Let's go," PoH stated and walked casually past Kirito, both of his men right behind him. Kirito caught a quick glimpse at the man with red eyes who's mouth twisted up at the corners and made the boy shiver in fear.

The purple-haired girl dropped to her knees. Yolko had been too terrified to speak, or move an inch the entire time. Now that the danger was passing, she felt it was okay to break down, _I could have died._

Kirito kept his sword out and continued watching the men until all three of them had retreated into the smoke. Taking a deep breath of relief, Kirito swung his sword to the left and right and then put it back behind him in his sheath. With a smile, he turned and said, "I'm glad I could see you again Yolko."

She seemed ashamed and bowed her head, "I was going to apologize to you, once everything was over. But I can't expect you to believe me," he chuckled, seeing that she was fine.

"Hey Kirito," he suddenly remembered the man lying at his feet, and it seemed the paralysis had finally worn off. Schmitt pulled himself onto one foot and a knee, "Thank you for saving me, but how did you figure it out? That those three would attack us here?"

"It's not like I figured it out. I just guessed it could be a possibility," _though I didn't expect PoH himself to show up. By himself I could probably take him, but with one, and more so with two extra men with him, I don't think it would have been possible._ "Hey Yolko-san," Kirito turned to the two sitting next to the tree, "You asked Grimlock to make those two weapons for you, didn't you?"

She looked at Kains and the man nodded, there was no use in lying to Kirito anymore. The woman turned back to him, "At first, he didn't really seem up for it. He said he wanted to let Griselda rest in peace."

Kains interrupted her as she faded off and Kirito was surprised by how young he was. In the armor he was in back in Martin, it was hard to tell and he thought the man was probably in his thirties, but the man in front of him now looked barely over twenty. "But when we begged him," the young man continued, "he finally forged the weapons for us."

_Nope,_ "I'm sorry, but the reason he opposed your plan wasn't for Griselda's sake." The two in front of him gasped, confused at what the kid could mean. "Grimlock thought that staging a dramatic incident like a safe-zone PK would draw too much attention, and someone was bound to figure it out. I only realized it thirty minutes ago myself." He explained what he and Asuna deduced while inside the restaurant, that Grimlock was the one who stole the ring.

"It was Grimlock?" Schmitt asked in horror, "He's the one who sent that memo? And he killed Griselda?"

Kirito looked down at Schmitt, _memo? He had something to do with Griselda's death, but it seems he didn't know much at all._ "No, he probably didn't do it personally. He likely left the actual murder to a red player specializing in such villainous acts." _It was too long ago to be Laughing Coffin, but if one of those members was the killer, Grimlock would have probably still been in contact with them even after they joined the red guild._

Yolko's eyes were wide, "No, if he's the real killer, then why would he have helped us?" She was the only one there who still couldn't accept it. Even Kains looked at the trusting girl with pity.

"You explained the whole plan to him didn't you?" she realized what he was saying and sat back against the tree. "So this was his chance to use it to his advantage and bury the ring incident once and for all. He was just tying up loose ends, waiting for you, Schmitt, and Kains to gather, so he could kill you all at once."

"So that's why the murder guild came here," Schmitt had his hand on his weapon, just in case one decided to come back. He wasn't going to let them catch him off guard this time, and would be ready to block if needed.

"Most likely one of those three was the man who killed Griselda," Kirito explained.

"That's horrible," Yolko fell into Kains's arms. The four of them stayed there in silence for a few seconds before a voice called out from the other side of the clearing.

"I found him," they all turned and saw Asuna walking out of the trees with a man wearing sunglasses, a hat, and a long coat.

"We can ask him for the details," _That's Grimlock? Seems a lot different than Yolko's description of the happy, friendly man._

"It's been a long time everyone," they all stared at the sociopath angrily.

The purple-haired girl broke the silence, "Why? Why did you need the money from the ring so badly that you had to kill Griselda, your own wife?!" Tears started streaming down her face. Kirito and Asuna felt this was a guild matter and stayed quiet as Grimlock spoke.

He laughed at the girl's notion that money was the reason he killed her. His reasons had nothing to do with money, he wanted to kill his wife, so that she remained his wife. Asuna had her sword pointing right at the man's back and she was furious. _She was your wife! How could you do that to her, even if you were only married in the game?_

"She was my wife in the real world too." Everyone gasped, that was rare in SAO, finding someone playing the game with their wife. Much more rare considering he killed her. "The perfect wife..." he ranted all about how amazing his relationship with his wife was in the real world. Then he changed his tone and talked about how she took the new world by the reins and started drifting from him, changing her personality completely. "The Yuko I loved was gone."

Asuna frowned, _so that was Griselda's real name. Yuko..._ the man ranted about how he needed to seal her away before she changed forever, while murder was still legal like in a game. "You killed your wife for that reason?" Asuna looked over at Kirito, the boy was dumbstruck, amazed that someone could take marriage so lightly.

"It's more than enough reason. Someday, you'll understand too detective," the man mocked the teenager in front of him. "Once you've found love and are about to lose it, that is." A wicked smile appeared on the man's face unnerving Kirito, _Will that really happen to me?_

"No. You're the one who's mistaken, Grimlock." She put away her sword and walked past the man to stand over next to Kirito, she was disgusted just being next to the murderer. "What you felt for Griselda wasn't love. The only feeling you had for her was possessiveness!" Her words seemed to strike a cord and she thought, _maybe I was wrong. If he can feel guilty, he must have felt something more for her then..._

Kirito took a step towards the man who fell to his knees and put his head in his hands, but before he could do anything, the former members of the Golden Apples walked past him. Kains stood next to Grimlock's sad form and then stared back at the kid, "Kirito, could you let us deal with this man ourselves?"

_Sure, I don't want to have to deal with him._ "All right," Schmitt and Kains lifted the man and put his arms over their shoulders. The two walked away and Yolko followed, only turning to give the other two a small bow before running off.

As the three of them disappeared in the woods, dragging along their old guild member, the sun rose behind Kirito and Asuna. The boy stretched his arms up and yawned, _up all night again. Eh, too bad._ "Hey," he heard a voice and turned to Asuna who was still looking off in the direction the others had just walked away in. "If it were you- let's say that after you married someone, you discovered she had a side that you didn't know about. What would you think?"

_Is she talking about herself? Is this a trick question, or a TRAP?!_ "Uh, maybe that I was lucky." She seemed surprised by his answer so he continued to respond truthfully, hoping it would work out. "B-because if you marry someone, it means you already like what you know about them right? So if you found something new about them, and fell in love with that too... Wouldn't that be great?" He held up his hands in front of him, hoping he had answered to her liking.

The girl with the long orange hair stared at him for a few seconds, trying to see if he was making that up. _Nope, looks like he's telling the truth, I guess that's an adequate response._ "Well, fine. Never mind that. I'm hungry. I didn't get to start my meal before."

"Yeah, that's right," he agreed, his stomach grumbling at that exact moment.

She stretched up in the air and smiled, yawning loud. "We haven't been to the front lines in two days. We'll have to get back to work tomorrow."

"Yeah, I want to clear this floor this week," he agreed. They both smiled and started walking. He felt someone watching from behind them and grabbed Asuna's arm, spinning her around so she could see exactly what he was looking at.

"What?" she asked and turned, her eyes doubling in size as she did. A woman was standing right above Griselda's grave, smiling at the two of them with the morning sun rising behind her. The orange-haired teen turned to Kirito who had been denying ghosts the entire time, but his mouth was wide open in shock. _I can't be hallucinating, he sees her too,_ Asuna looked back at the grave, but the woman was gone.

They stared at the empty spot, where the woman had been, for a few minutes in silence. Asuna was the one to break it in a happy tone, "Hey Kirito, I'm really glad we worked on this case together."

"Uh, oh, yeah. Me too," he stumbled over his words and she giggled.

"Come on, let's head back to town and get some food," she started walking off.

"Y-Yeah," he walked next to her and they headed to town together.

Later that day the two of them made it back to the fifty-ninth floor and found out that the boss battle was going to happen that afternoon and they almost missed it. Klein joked to Kirito about missing a few days of training spending time with a girl, "I bet I've already surpassed you in that time you spent away," the man chided.

The battle was hard, and although no one was killed, Klein came close at one point and Kirito ran in and took the blow for him. As the giant six armed monster had a fist pushing against Kirito's chest, the boy turned his head towards Klein and said, "Who's surpassed who?" and he grabbed the fist pressed against him, lifting the monster by it and throwing him to the side where a few DDA members went at it.

Asuna and Kirito saw Schmitt taking part in the battle and nodded to the man when they passed him on their way out after defeating it. The man nodded back and then went back to his conversation with his guild members. "Looks like Yolko and Kains decided not to show anyone the recording," Kirito whispered to Asuna who had a good idea at what the man had done.

"It wasn't completely his fault, and I think the main reason they aren't getting him in trouble, is because they could see how guilty Schmitt felt when he was apologizing to Griselda's grave." The girl tried making sense of it, she couldn't say whether or not she would have let the man get away with it, but Schmitt wasn't a bad guy so she decided to forgive him.

Once on the sixtieth floor, all the clearers stared ahead in shock. Most floors had been pretty similar, with different terrains and such, but still pretty similar in their layout. This floor was so different from any they'd seen so far, that a few people ran back inside the dungeon and headed back to the floor before, they weren't ready to go exploring in the fiery wasteland.

_There hasn't even been a desert floor yet, but they give us this?_ Kirito looked around at the volcanoes in the distance. The entire sky was covered in black clouds and the smoke rising from the lava fields was intense.

"How do we even get to the town?!" one of the KoBO members exclaimed as they looked down the hill that they came out on. There was a large pool of lava that stretched for hundreds of meters before the town that they could see on the other side of it.

"Look," another member of the same guild pointed at rocks in the pool of fire. Some of them looked sturdy, while others were bobbing slowly in the lava.

A Fuurinkazan member dropped his weapon and looked down in defeat, "This is it, who's going to risk crossing that. To get further we need someone to activate the teleporter in the town over there, which means the only way we can get to the town, is by crossing this," he looked defeated and went back inside.

That man walked by Klein on the staircase, who had fully recovered from his battle and was ready to see what the new floor looked like. "Yuzi?" he asked the man with the red bandana tied around his left bicep. "Where are you going?" he called after the man as he headed back downstairs. Receiving no reply, the bearded man kept ascending the stairs, only to see player after player walking back down with solemn looks on their faces.

When Klein finally got out of the dungeon, he saw only a handful of people still standing up there. One DDA member was speaking in a hushed whisper to his friends. The tallest of the three of them shook his head and grabbed the man by the shoulder, telling him no. As Klein wondered why he would be saying that, he suddenly felt really hot and pulled at the collar of his undershirt, looking up and dropping his jaw.

As the leader of the Fuurinkazan stared speechless at the unusual landscape all around them, he saw the third member of the DDA squad turn and run from his two group members. "Dennis stop!" The tallest man called out and the short one he was talking to turned to see his friend going to do exactly what he was just planning.

The man called Dennis ran right past Kirito who reached out to stop him but the man shrugged off his hand. He leapt over the four members of the KoBO who were standing closest to the lava pool and then stopped on the edge.

"Don't do it, we need to learn more about this first," Asuna shouted at the man but he ignored he and jumped onto the first closest rock to the hill. The hill was made completely of stone and had a few glowing red cracks in it, but nothing large enough to fall through. Now the man was standing on a rock in the middle of the lava and he extended his arms to either side, hoping he could keep his balance.

"Come back Dennis," the two DDA members were at the edge of the hill but the man with blonde hair tucked back into his armor turned and gave them a small smile. He didn't look too nervous, but his concentration came back and he jumped up and landed on the next rock in front of him.

The lake was as big as some of the larger fishing lakes on lower floors, but it seemed like so much longer as they watched Dennis take his time. He was about halfway there when he jumped to a rock that he thought was stable. It wasn't.

As soon as his foot touched it, the rock started to sink into the lava and the man began to panic. He jumped quicker to the next rock because the lava was coming over, but the rock he landed on was also loose and started to sink down. He looked around him for another rock to jump on, but the only ones near him seemed even more wobbly than the one he was currently standing on.

"Watch out!" one of his teammates screamed from back on shore and Dennis winced as the molten rock came over his stepping stone and started burning his feet. The man knew that if he panicked he would fall in and die, so he looked around, his health steadily decreasing, and found a rock that looked stable. Dennis knew he had to jump on top of three smaller, less sturdy rocks to get there, but it was his only shot.

_He might actually be able to do this,_ Kirito watched as the man jumped with grace, lava dripping off the bottom of his now bare feet as his boots had lost all their durability and exploded. The man landed with one foot on the next rock and instantly sprung off of it to the second one. He planned on pushing down and jumping once more to third rock before landing with both feet and hopping to the final, sturdy one where he could regain his health and equip more boots. When his left foot hit the second rock, the small object sank into the lava faster than any before it and his leg went all the way down to his knee before he could push off and jump for the third rock.

Even from the sixty meter or so distance, all the players on shore could see the complete red surrounding Dennis's leg. It was the same marking as if he had been slashed with a sword, only covering his whole appendage. The man wasn't able to get much spring off of his last jump since half of his leg was under the surface, and he fell short of the third rock. Only his arms grabbed onto it and his head was still above as well. "Ahh, AHHH!" the man screamed.

"Dennis!" the DDA member who had been arguing that he wanted to try it screamed.

"Dennis! Dennis!" everyone on shore started shouting at the man, and he used all of his remaining strength to pull himself out of the lava and onto the third rock. He lay on his back, panting and staring at the red marks all over his body. At the top left of his vision, he could see his health bar in the yellow, and it was still decreasing towards the red. It finally stopped and the man heard screaming from back at the hill. "Use your teleport crystal!" he heard someone shout and turned his head to the side to stare back at the people yelling at him. The were all cupping their mouths so that he could hear them, but as he was watching, he realized he was moving down.

Dennis had temporarily forgotten that the third rock was unstable as well, even if it was slightly larger than the others so his body could fit on it. While he was looking back at the hill, he saw the red liquid lift over the side of the object and he lifted an arm, pulling up his menu and getting out a teleportation crystal.

"He's going to die!" one of the DDA members shouted, slamming the ground with his fist.

"No, look," Klein saw the man pull out a blue crystal at the same time as the lava started spilling over.

The sixteen year old found himself with his eyes closed, praying that the man would make it out in time. _I should have been the one to try it, if I was just braver and did this before Dennis had time to..._ he opened his eyes as everyone stopped shouting and just saw a bunch of blue crystals floating up in the air.

"D-did he teleport away?" one of the Knights of the Blood Oath members asked.

Asuna looked over at Kirito and walked closer, whispering, "Do you think it was just his armor? Maybe he got out in..." the words got caught in her throat as a gunshot fired and they all lifted their heads to the sky, seeing Dennis's smiling face and the little blue dragon symbol next to his name under the picture. _Looks like his name was actually Richard Lee, wonder why he chose the name Dennis?_ Kirito frowned and turned away from Asuna who was staring up at the sky with tears forming in her eyes.

"He was the only one," one of the Knights started. Kirito recognized him as the man he fought the twenty-fifth boss with: one of the original members of the KoBO. "The only one who tried to cross it out of everyone who helped defeat the boss." The man clenched his fists but his legs wouldn't move, "If I wasn't so much of a coward, I wouldn't let his sacrifice be in vain."

Nobody spoke but Asuna walked over to the man, "It's not any of our faults Xavier. We're still going to need to get across this, and it doesn't matter how high our levels are." She looked back at the other seven people still on the sixtieth floor, "We could be level ninety or level ten, it doesn't make a difference, that lava means death for all of us."

**May 13, 2024.**

"Whoa, whoa, whoaaaaaa!" Kirito fell off the rock and fell twenty feet to the water below where he belly-flopped and a chorus of sighs was released by everyone watching.

The boy poked his head out of the water and coughed a few times before growling at himself and swimming back to the start. "Next!" a man holding a clipboard shouted. He was an overweight man adorned in red and white, the signature colors of the KoBO.

Asuna looked at the Head of Finances for the Knights of the Blood Oath and frowned, still unable to believe Heathcliff allowed someone like him into their selective guild. "Daizen's so much weaker than every other member. Even if he knows how to raise funds for the guild, it still doesn't make him any better." This situation was one which Daizen excelled at, he sold tickets and ran a gambling ring where the winner was determined on how far each player could make it across the course.

The girl with light orange hair took a deep breath and readied herself, "Here goes," she started running forwards on the sand, and then leapt in the air. Asuna landed on the first of the rock pillars coming out of the lake and hopped right to the next one.

Unlike Kirito, who took careful measurements and ample time for every jump he made, Asuna ran from one rock to the next barely taking any pause at all. There were minor differences in the towers she could hop on and the ones she couldn't, and that was her downfall as she jumped and realized too late that the rock pillar she was about to land on wouldn't be able to hold her weight. As soon as her left foot touched it, the entire tower collapsed to the water below and she fell at around the same spot Kirito did a minute before.

The two of them got to the beach and were sitting on the sand, staring up as more players attempted the course on the forty-second floor. Kirito chuckled as Asuna wrung her hair out by twisting her hands around it and emptied it onto the beach.

She took his laugh as one directed at her performance and got offended, "What are you laughing at?"

"Uh," he stopped and continued smiling at the girl. Then he thought about it and said with a grin, "If you go too fast, you won't know which rock tower is going to fall or not."

"And if you go any slower," she retorted, "your rock pillar will disappear from underneath you, as such."

"And if this were the real deal, you would have just jumped to your death," he said angrily at her.

"Better than being indecisive and waiting for the lava to come up over the sides!" she yelled back at him and they both thought about Dennis. Their expressions softened and they turned away from each other, looking over as another player fell off the tower and down to the water below, making a huge splash as the boy dropped into a cannonball at the end.

When he came back over the water he was laughing and a lot of the spectators laughed along with him. "Don't they understand why we're doing this?" Asuna asked as she stared at all the people having a good time. "We still have forty-one floors left to clear, sixty to a hundred, and it's only going to get harder from here on in."

The girl continued to speak without realizing that there was no more noise coming from the crowd of spectators who were watching. Suddenly dozens of people started laughing and Daizen's voice announced, "Alright everyone, looks like we've got ourselves a shrimp trying out the obstacle course. Place your bets, my guess would be two rocks, three at most," the crowd started laughing as a small boy, probably not over ten years old stood on the beach ready to charge.

"...If we take too long for this floor, another person is going to die attempting to cross. The death toll is at four already, Kirito, Kirito are you even listening to me?" The kid's mouth dropped lower and lower and Asuna followed where he was looking to see a small blur jumping across pillars. The blur stopped for a second and Kirito was amazed, _At that speed he was able to determine the next rock wasn't going to be sturdy?_ "Who is that?" Asuna questioned him as the kid made it past the farthest point either of them had ever made it on the course before.

"I have no idea," he answered.

"Holy..." Daizen shouted into the microphone and everyone started cheering the kid on, even the people who had bet on him only making it a few feet. "He's going for the gold, he's almost there!" The boy jumped to the final pillar and dropped back onto the beach he started at. The pillars looped around the circular lake and the starting line was the same as the finish line, with Daizen and most of the spectators watching from an island in the middle.

"He made it," Asuna muttered, still in shock. Kirito rubbed his eyes, but the ten year old was still standing on the shore.

"Do I get a prize?" he shouted at the fat man in the KoBO outfit.

"Uhh," the man responded into the microphone and then looked over to shore where Asuna was sitting. The girl nodded at the announcer and started walking towards the young boy. Kirito followed her, he wanted to see how this kid did all that.

"Hello, I'm Asuna," the girl stuck out her hand but the little boy was already bouncing up and down as she approached him.

"I know, I mean, you're famous. Umm, my name's Teddy," the kid smiled at her and shook the hand she outstretched for him. She could tell he was overwhelmed being next to her and she chuckled.

"Hi," Kirito said holding out his hand and the little boy shook his hand as well. "How did you learn to do that?" Kirito asked and the boy shrugged.

"I race with a lot of my friends, but I'm the fastest. Someone told me to come up here and try this so I did. It wasn't that hard... I mean I've practiced a lot on floor five where there's a similar area." The kid corrected himself when he suddenly remembered both of the fighters in front of him failing on their previous attempts. The girl in front of him was giving him a strange look as she thought about something.

"Asuna can I talk to you for a second," Kirito grabbed her by the left arm and pulled her away from the kid as she struggled.

"Hey, what are you... stop," she pulled her arm from his grip and looked at him but Kirito was looking over her shoulder at the kid on the beach.

"You can't be serious," Kirito said to her as he looked her in the eyes.

"What?!" she asked him with a shrug. _He did that course easily, we can finally get to the next town._

"He's not even ten years old, we're not sending him up there. He could die," Kirito gave her a stern look but the girl gave him one right back.

"And what will happen if we don't get out of here? He is our best chance to escape from this prison. If we stop advancing here, we're all going to die stuck in this world." Both of them heard the clearing of a throat and spun to the side where the kid was standing, much closer than either of them realized.

"I'm actually eleven years old," the kid said to Kirito who sweat dropped and closed his mouth, realizing the kid had heard him. "What do you mean, 'best chance to escape?' Is there something I can do to help?" Teddy looked up at Asuna with a smile on his face and the girl reconsidered telling him, he was too cute to send up.

The girl in white and red looked at the eleven year old, then to Kirito, and then back at him again. Kirito's shrugged, deciding if the kid wanted to help, then he should help. Asuna was ignoring him anyway and spoke, "Actually Teddy there is. Come with me and I'll explain," they started walking off towards the town.

The boy pulled out a sword of a similar style to Asuna's rapier but they could tell his was a much lower level. "Don't worry," Kirito said to him and pulled out his one-handed sword, "If something gets aggroed to you up here I'll take care of it before it gets close." This made Teddy feel a little at ease and he put his blade back in its sheath on his waist.

Asuna explained to Teddy how all the front-liners were stuck at the entrance to the sixtieth floor. They were all still getting stronger on the fifty-ninth, but soon they wouldn't be able to keep leveling up with the small amount of experience they were receiving. The boy asked what that had to do with the obstacle course and she told him about the rocks in the lava leading to the sixtieth floor town. All they needed was one person to get through, then everyone else could teleport to the town on the other side.

At this point in the explanation, they had made it to the nineteenth floor town and Teddy's eyes went wide. "Y-you mean, you want me to try to get there? That was the whole point of the obstacle course? My friend didn't say anything about that..."

"He probably didn't know about it," Kirito explained, "Daizen has turned it into more of a game than a test."

"But," the boy trailed off and looked Asuna sat on a park bench, telling him to sit with her. Kirito stayed standing close to them, he was wondering what the boy's response would be. _He hasn't given her an answer, but then again, she never really asked him a question. He's assumed what we want from him._

"So Teddy," Asuna looked down at the kid next to her and took a deep breath, "it's entirely your decision; it won't be easy and it's a dangerous path where four people have died already." She stopped and opened up her menu, "I'll friend you so you can send me a message with your response."

The kid shook his head, "No need," he stood up off of the bench.

_Didn't think so, _Kirito thought, _I don't blame the kid, it's just too dangerous..._ "I'll do it."

"HUH?" Kirito asked dropping his jaw. _Asuna just told him that four people have died already! Could this kid be trying to kill himself? No, he's too excited by all this._

"A-are you sure?" Asuna asked sitting in shock on the bench.

The boy nodded his head a bunch of times, "When I was nine, I really wanted to go out of the main town and train to help out finishing the game. My mom wouldn't let me though, and she made me stay in the Town of Beginnings with her. There was a teacher and a lot of kids my age went to her and we lived like it was real life." Teddy stopped and thought about his home, "Me and the other kids tried leaving a couple of times and got a little stronger, but the front lines were already so far away that there was no chance of us catching up."

"Wait, your mom's here? Shouldn't you ask her first before accepting?" Asuna exclaimed, "I doubt she'll let you," she stopped as Kirito rested a hand on her shoulder. The teenage girl looked up at him but saw he was staring at the younger boy with a sad look on his face.

She looked back at Teddy and saw that the kid was looking at the ground, "Two months ago... Laughing Coffin..." he stopped but both of the others knew where he was going with this.

"I'm sorry," Asuna said. She got off of the bench and got down on a knee in front of the kid.

He looked up and wiped the lone tear from his face, a smile replacing it. "It's ok, I want to do this. I know that my mom didn't want me to be stuck in this game for my entire life. She wanted me to get out of here, so if I can help me and all the other kids... no. If I could help _everyone_ get out of the game, I'm sure it would make her proud of me." The boy looked over at Kirito and continued to smile, "Getting across the lake really will help won't it?"

"Yes," the kid looked at the woman kneeling in front of him. She grabbed him by the shoulders, "Yes it will."

"Meet us here tomorrow morning at nine a.m., alright?" Kirito told the boy. Asuna looked at him funny, but the young boy nodded. "Ok, see you tomorrow," the kid smiled and waved to them as he ran towards the teleporter to go home.

"Kirito-kun," the boy looked at Asuna and she tilted her head to the side, "why didn't we go now?"

"Because, we need to discuss a few things first."

**March 14, 2024.**

"There he is," Kirito pointed to the nineteenth floor's main town center as a blue light appeared and a small boy showed up. He stood from his spot on the bench and Asuna got up as well, a frown on her face.

"Hey Kirito! Asuna!" Teddy ran from the town square about halfway to them, but the older boy held up a hand telling him to stop.

"We're going up anyway," Kirito explained as they got close to him. He led the kid back towards the town center and Teddy looked at Asuna. The boy saw the girl's deep frown and got a little nervous.

"Hey Kirito," the boy whispered to the teen. Teddy ran up to him so that Asuna was walking behind them, but her hearing skills were high enough that she could easily hear the kid. "Why does Asuna-san seem so angry?"

Kirito turned his head and saw the girl with orange hair glaring at the back of his head. He chuckled and put his hand down on top of the younger boy's head, ruffling his hair and making the boy giggle. "It's nothing, now we're heading to Danac, you call it out first." The boy nodded and walked in front of Kirito, calling out the name of the fifty-ninth floor's main town.

"I'm still not okay with this," Asuna argued once the boy was gone.

The other teen turned and sighed, "The decision's been made. We all agreed, you can't go back on it now." Asuna grumbled at his response, but Kirito vanished in a blue burst of light and she followed him to the 59th floor.

When they arrived, the town center was bustling with people, which was odd because Danac is a relatively small town with not many businesses and shops for people to go to. Kirito stepped towards Teddy who was looking up at five men all wearing silver knight's armor. When the people in the sqaure all saw Kirito and Asuna arrive, they looked around for a third person.

"Is that him?" one of the KoBO members wearing all white with some red highlights asked. He pointed at the small blonde boy standing next to Kirito. He was half the size of the already short teenager and many of the fighters who had gathered started voicing their disapproval.

"_He's_ going to do what we couldn't?" A man who had attempted the trial and only escaped with a fraction of his health using a teleport crystal shouted.

"How are we supposed to trust this kid?"

"I'm out of here," one man started walking back towards the teleporter, an Army soldier who had come because of the summons.

"Leave if you want, _coward,_" Kirito growled at the man as he walked past. The man in all black and green armor wearing a dark helmet froze at the menacing tone of Kirito's voice. "We don't need anyone who isn't willing to risk their life anyway."

The sixteen year old looked around and saw William was there with ten of his Divine Dragons. Godfree had shown up with six KoBO members. Eight members of the Fuurinkazan had shown up, including Klein, and there were a lot of others including solo players as well. _A lot of people have been waiting for this,_ Kirito looked back at the Army soldier, waiting for him to make his decision. The man finally grunted and shouted out, "Teleport: Town of Beginnings."

Once he was gone, the place seemed a little more at ease to Teddy. A group of men wearing red that made them look like samurai started laughing at the Army member who had run away. "Even this kid has more between his legs than that grunt," a chubby man said and the leader of the guild started cracking up.

"Hey kid, my name's Klein," the leader walked up and extended a hand, "I already know your name Teddy." The boy smiled and shook the red-haired man's hand, before shaking the chubby guy whose name was Owen and a few others who extended their hands to him. Most of the fighters around looked away however, or whispered to their friends while looking at the boy as if he was less than they were.

_I guess a lot of members of the Assault Team think people like him haven't been pulling their weight._ Kirito cleared his throat and everyone quieted down, "It's going to be a much longer trek to the boss room than any other time we've went. Because of Teddy's level, a lot of monsters that usually just ignored us are going to attack." The young kid saw a few people send glares his direction, causing chills to shoot down his spine. "However, our top priority is protecting him. We're going to make a box formation around him. The path to the cave shouldn't be too hard, but once we're inside the mountains on the way to the boss room, there are going to be a lot of mobs attacking."

The sixteen year old in the black cloak finished explaining and the group got in formation around Teddy. There was no closer town to the tower than Danac, which meant that every time they wanted to get back to the completed boss room, they had to redo the entire thirty minute trek, which was only that short if they weren't attacked.

The eleven year old in the center of the pack looked around. A man in silver armor with a large shield and a sword walked in front of him to his right, while one in white and red walked to his front left. That man was one who had shaken his hand earlier and made the kid feel like he belonged, _Godfree. I should stay close to him._ The kid looked over his shoulder and saw Asuna behind him on one side, and Kirito on the other. Those four fighters stayed in a small box pattern around the kid, with the other forty or so players surrounding them.

_This isn't starting off great,_ Asuna thought as they stepped out of the safety of the town. The second Teddy stepped through the barrier, one of the mega squirrels that was grazing on the field near them stared running over. That particular mob was weaker than some of the dungeon monsters on the fifty-seventh floor so the fact that they were attacking made some of the outer players groan. As the beast got close, one of the Fuurinkazan sliced his sword out with barely even a look and it cut the mega squirrel in half.

Teddy couldn't really see what was happening on the outside of the box because everyone around him was so much taller than he was, but at the last second he did see the squirrel and was amazed that the man could kill it in one stroke. "Awesome," Kirito smiled at the kid's reaction and continued to follow him, being careful to be on the lookout for weak spots in their formation.

"My friends couldn't believe me when I told them," the boy said to Asuna as they walked. She smiled at him, "I told them, 'I'm going to go to the sixtieth floor tomorrow and help the Assault Team.' But they were like, 'Nuh uh,'" the high pitched voice he used to describe his friends made a few of the members around him chuckle.

The group made it to the mountain path fine, and then they reached the first cave entrance. A few players had attempted to go around it weeks ago, but there were no other trails to get to the boss room. Teddy was getting pretty tired of walking since they had to move pretty slow because of the monsters, so Kirito called for a break and they all stopped outside the mouth of the cave.

The eleven year old looked around at all the players standing around and saw two of them glaring at him and speaking to each other in voices he assumed they meant for him to hear. "I can't believe we're making this entire trip just to watch this kid fail."

"I'm okay with people trying, but who thought it was a good idea to send a runt like him? That beater must be retarded if he thinks this kid has a better chance than Dennis did." One of the other men in silver armor elbowed his comrades in the sides to shut them up, seeing that the kid was staring at the ground with a frown. So far, Dennis had made it further than anyone else who attempted to cross the lake, which was still only a little farther than halfway across.

"Alright, let's get going. Everyone be careful," Kirito announced and the group made its way into the cave. They moved slowly along the dark path through the mountain. Asuna moved towards Teddy and grabbed his hand, leading the boy in the right direction.

Teddy's level was low, which meant most of his skills were low as well, except for agility. Asuna realized he could barely see inside the cave and was helping him walk through it, even though she could clearly see all the rock golems spawning and bat mobs flying down from the ceiling.

"What was that?" the kid asked her as he pulled himself closer. Asuna had yanked him a few steps to the left as Kirito landed where they were just walking. A bat had came down from right above them and the black-robed boy was the only one to detect it in time.

She turned back to Kirito and they nodded at each other, "It was nothing," she assured the kid and then looked back forwards down the path. A frown spread back across her face, _Kirito. There has to be another way._ The little boy seemed to feel her getting tense and squeezed her hand tighter. _Teddy, this game is too cruel to have a kid like you trapped here, but I don't want you to die either._

They continued through the cave at a snail's pace and finally got through all the way to the base of the tower up to the next floor. "Time for the labyrinth. Alright men, onwards to victory!" Godfree ended the small break they took outside the tower and they all entered the dungeon.

It took the large group a long time to reach the empty boss room and they went inside. "This is where we took down the fifty-ninth floor boss," Kirito whispered to Teddy and the boy took in a deep breath, staring around the room in awe.

A few of the other players saw the look of amazement in Teddy's eyes and smiled. "You're all so strong," he said as the group continued to walk through the room. "Some people on the lower floors are angry, they don't think the Assault Team is trying hard enough to get us out of here." A few of the fighters around him got angry at that comment but the kid continued, "But I always tell them they're wrong. Now I know for sure that everyone up here is trying their hardest to break out of this world. You guys destroyed those monsters like they were nothing, I bet none of the people complaining about it could do that."

Kirito looked around and saw grins and smirks appearing on all the warrior's faces as they marched to the staircase on the other side of the boss room. _He doesn't even realize how much help he's being just saying all that._ "Those people aren't even trying to help, but I guess..." his smile faded, "I'm just like them." The kid got quiet and the entire group started ascending the staircase.

A hand covered in a steel glove rested on top of the kid's left shoulder and he looked up to see one of the Divine Dragons who was muttering about him earlier. "That's not true kid, most people would have been too afraid to make the journey we just did." The man looked away, "Even I'm too afraid to do what you're about to do."

"Yeah, don't compare yourself to those people."

"You're being a big help."

Asuna looked around with an open mouth, the people around her seemed genuinely impressed by the kid's resolve to help them out. He was easily the youngest one among them, but they were treating him as their equal. A few men in her own guild, the DDA, and some solo players stayed quiet and continued to give the kid looks of disapproval, but they restrained from speaking their thoughts as the kid seemed to have earned the respect of their comrades.

They finally saw the top of the stairs approaching, and the massive group exited the labyrinth to the sixtieth floor. Kirito walked up to the kid, "How does it feel? Under a hundred people have been to this floor yet."

The kid was staring around at the black clouds in the sky, the volcanoes in the distance, and the lava fields all around them. Kirito thought for a second that Teddy was going to back out, but the kid smiled, "It feels amazing!" He looked in front of him and saw a bunch of buildings in the distance, barely visible through all the smoke rising up from the lava lake they were situated in. The small rock island they were on had only two exits: going back the way they came, or hopping across the rock path that Teddy started walking towards.

"Are you ready Teddy?" Asuna asked and the boy stopped, turning around to see the entire group looking at him with nervous looks.

The man with red hair dressed like a samurai took a step towards him, "You can always choose not to do this. It's your choice," the kid smiled at Klein and then turned back to the rocks.

"Hold on," Kirito said to him and Teddy stopped. The little boy turned to his right and saw Kirito step right up next to him. "Don't think you're doing this by yourself."

"What?" Teddy asked looking up at the boy next to him. "B-but you never finished the obstacle course."

A lot of the other group members were looking at Kirito the same way, they had no idea he was going to attempt crossing as well.

Asuna, Klein, William, and Godfree were the only ones who didn't find this surprising as they had all been with Kirito during the meeting last night.

** "So we're all agreed on the decision for who goes with Teddy tomorrow?" The group of four sitting around the table on the fifty-fifth floor nodded to the boy in black. They had met up in the dining hall of the Knights of the Blood Oath's castle in Granzam for the meeting. **

** "I don't particularly like the idea, but I will go along with it if it's what we've decided." The leader of the Divine Dragons watched as Kirito pulled out five sticks that he had hidden under the table. **

** "One of these is smaller than the others," Kirito explained to the group. "Whoever draws the small stick goes with Teddy."**

** "Why do we need to go with him again?" Asuna asked, looking around the table, "None of us we're able to complete the model course, we're just going to get ourselves killed."**

** "Because," Kirito said as he got out of his seat, "if Teddy gets to the other side and he's not in the safe zone yet, monsters are going to kill him in one hit. We can't let him cross by himself and that's that." **

_I still can't believe Kirito pulled the short stick by "chance," he must have rigged it._ Asuna growled but held her tongue as Kirito smiled at the kid, "It's alright. That's why I have you leading me in the right direction. You choose a path, and I'll follow."

The sixteen year old suddenly realized that he was putting his life in the younger boy's hands, and he also saw that Teddy realized this at the same time. "Don't worry," he whispered to the kid, "I'm going to be all right. My purpose for being there is to protect you, so don't go thinking that I'm the one who needs saving."

The kid with short blonde hair nodded at his friend and turned back to the path in front of him. "Alright, I'm going for it."

"Yeah! Go Teddy!" Klein shouted out and punched a hand in the air. Many of the others followed the Fuurinkazan leader's example and started cheering even louder as the kid took the first jump on the nearest rock.

After the kid jumped to the second rock, Kirito took a deep breath and leapt on the first one. _Here goes nothing,_ the boy gulped and stuck out his arms to either side to make sure he kept his balance. He jumped to the next rock and looked up to see Teddy was moving much faster than he was, _remember what Asuna said, 'Better than being indecisive and waiting for the lava to come up over the sides!' I need to catch up to Teddy._ He started moving faster and caught up so he was only two rocks behind the kid.

From the shore, the group that was cheering them on became quiet as everyone started holding their breath."They're setting a good pace," Godfree commented and a few of the others nodded.

_Be careful Teddy, you too Kirito._ The girl with orange hair was worried about the young kid, but her friend had never completed the obstacle course and she knew that better than anyone. _You need to make it to the end Kirito. Survive!_

"Wow, it's really hot up here," Teddy commented as he stopped on a sturdy rock. Kirito stopped on the one behind him and looked up as the kid was staring around at all the lava bubbles forming.

_How is he smiling? Doesn't this scare him? Wait,_ Kirito just noticed the reason why they stopped and he stared at the boy's legs which were shaking uncontrollably. "Teddy, calm down," he urged.

"I'm fine," the boy said but didn't turn back to look at Kirito. He stared at a bubble that was forming in the lava next to him, until it popped and a small splash of molten rock flew up and landed on his left leg. "Ow!" he shouted and lifted up that leg, hopping on his other.

"Teddy look out," the kid's right foot slipped and he started falling backwards towards the lava under him.

"Ahhh!" the boy's head started turning in midair so he could see the lava as it got closer and closer to him. He froze, feeling a presence next to him and his head spun around. Kirito was standing on the same rock he was on, holding onto his right arm. The older boy pulled him back up on the rock and the kid panted, falling down on his knees.

After a few seconds of watching the kid's facial expressions, Kirito said, "Let's go back. No one will blame you," Kirito had given the kid a blue teleportation crystal before the trek started, "Take out your crystal."

"No." The kid stated. He calmed down his breathing and lifted back to his feet. He took his arm and wiped his face, "I can keep going. I need to keep going," he looked at Kirito with an intense look and the boy stopped trying to convince him. "Follow me," the younger kid jumped to the next rock and the sixteen year old noticed his legs weren't shaking anymore.

_Alright then,_ Kirito waited for him to get to the next rock before jumping himself.

"Fwew," Klein released the breath he took when the kid was leaning over the lava. Once they started moving again, the morale of the group standing there rose and they all started cheering again. "Let them hear us!" the leader of the samurai guild shouted and everyone started cheering.

Asuna looked around and saw that even the men who weren't smiling at Teddy when the kid was talking earlier were all shouting his name now. _They all believe in him._

"You can do this!" A Divine Dragon shouted.

"Go for it," a KoBO member screamed out to them.

A solo player called out for the first time, "You've got this Teddy!"

"Teddy! Kirito! Teddy! Kirito!" Godfree chanted their names.

The boys crossing the lake of fire heard all the shouting behind them and smiles came to their faces. "Keep going Teddy, we're almost there!" Kirito jumped to the next rock and guessed that they were three quarters of the way there. _As I thought, there's a pretty big space between the end of the lake to where the town entrance is._

They could see the sign on the arch leading into the old Japanese style town and Teddy started laughing, "Lavaville?" Kirito couldn't hold his own laughter and joined in with the kid. The younger boy stopped laughing and looked around him, "Over here there's no path where we won't have to jump on an unstable rock. We're going to have to jump on it and then jump fast to the next one which is sturdy so it doesn't have time to sink in the lava."

"Are you sure?" Kirito asked but the kid jumped to the next rock and then leapt straight to the next one as his first foot touched the unsturdy one. The older kid barely saw the rock sway at all, _probably because he's so light. He doesn't have any armor either, which might have been the biggest problem with everyone else who attempted it._ Kirito waited for him to get to the next one so that the second rock would have an empty landing zone before trying the same tactic as Teddy. When his right foot landed on the wobbly rock, he saw it lift out of the liquid on one side and tilt to the side he was standing on.

"Kirito!" the boy shouted and the older kid took another step up the flipping rock. The rock turned completely and the boy realized that it was flat and just floating on the surface. _It's going to flip over,_ he planted one foot on the top of the rock when the top was four feet above the surface and he made a leap for the next rock.

"Oh crap," Kirito said in midair once he realized he overshot the next rock. With amazing speed, the sixteen year old drew his sword and slammed in into the rock beneath him where it stuck and stopped his forward momentum. The force yanked hard on his arm but he held on to his sword and found himself off the side of the rock with one arm holding him up.

The green bar on the top left of his vision started decreasing as his legs were engulfed in magma. Kirito reached up with his other arm and grabbed onto his sword, but as he grabbed it, the weapon wobbled in its crack in the rock. The more he tried to pull his lower body from the side of the rock, the more his sword came loose. _I've got to think fast,_ despite this, Kirito stopped moving because he felt that if he shook one more time, his sword would come out of his hold and he would fall completely into the lava. His health bar went down to the yellow and as it did, he winced from the pain.

The small movement he made from wincing cause his sword to come loose and a look of shock came over his face as he felt nothing holding him in place anymore. He let go of his weapon and tried to grab on the rock with both his hands, but he couldn't find a hold, _Is this the end? Is this how I die?_ The boy felt his waist get surrounded in the lava and his vision was becoming blurry because of the amount of pain he was in. "KIRITO!" the boy's eyes opened wide as he felt two hands grabbing his forearms.

The boy standing above him had a strained look on his face, "Don't die Kirito," the boy pleaded and pulled with all the strength he could muster. "Come on!" Kirito snapped out of it and used his own strength to pull himself up as well. Finally his feet came out of the lava and he lay on his stomach on the rock. He was panting hard and his health was still dropping, now down in the red as red markings covered his body from his waist down.

Teddy tried not to panic and rolled Kirito on his back. _He needs help, oh yeah!_ The boy opened up his inventory and pulled out a potion, putting it to the older boy's lips and forcing it down his throat. The health bar that was steadily decreasing stopped and the red markings faded. Kirito's blurry vision became normal and he looked up at the smiling boy bent down over him. Next to the boy's head, he could see his own health bar that went back up to half, and was now increasing.

"Thank you Teddy," the teenager said as he sat up.

"Just repaying you for before," the kid smiled at him showing his teeth and Kirito chuckled. "We're almost there, let's finish this," the boy said while holding out a hand for Kirito to take.

The older kid looked at the hand and then grabbed it, letting Teddy pull him up to his feet. After that, the kid jumped to the rock he had been standing on before he had leapt back to save his new friend.

The members of the group that had brought Teddy to the floor were shocked when they saw Kirito sliding into the lava. Was the Black Knight really going to die in such a way? They were even more surprised when it was Teddy who pulled the boy up and brought him back from the brink of death.

"Forget everything I said about the kid before," one of the Divine Dragons whispered to his neighbor as they stood on the shore. The man next to him with an axe slung over his shoulder just nodded, staring in awe at the two as they made it to the last couple of rocks before the town.

"They did it," a solo player mumbled and everyone around her was silent. "THEY DID IT!" she shouted this time and the crowd erupted in cheers and whistles.

_Teddy, Kirito, I knew you could do it._ Even though she believed in them, a huge weight still lifted from her shoulders and she was able to let out a sigh of relief before adding her own cheers and hollers to mix with the crowds.'

On the other side of the lava lake, both boys were panting with their hands on their knees. During the trip neither of them said anything, but they were terrified. "Great job," Kirito said to the kid next to him. The eleven year old smiled and laughed before stopping with a horrified expression on his face.

The older boy saw his scared look and saw that the kid was looking over his head so he spun around. Spawning behind Kirito was a monster made of molten rock, coming out of the solid ground beneath them and showing that even the land with the town on it still rested above a pit of fire. The ground seemed to fill itself back in when the monster came out of it and roared. "Let's run for the town Kirito," the boy begged but Kirito was grinning. "Kirito?"

The sixteen year old with black hair went into his inventory and took out the sword that was set only for his duel wielding. The all black Elucidator appeared in the sheath on his back and Kirito pulled it out, "Don't worry Teddy, you head into the town. I'll take care of this quickly."

Teddy was going to argue but he saw the look in Kirito's eyes and gulped. _He looks like he can handle this on his own._ The monster was aggroed on the less powerful kid, but when Kirito started running towards it and the boy away from it, it changed who it was focused on.

The monster was made of many brown rocks with red lines separating them as the inside of the monster was filled with molten lava. It roared again and Kirito jumped back as it swiped a hand down and slammed into the ground, "You think you're a tough guy don't you?" _This is probably supposed to be a boss for whoever passed the test. _Kirito dodged the next punch as well and he rolled under the monster's arm, slashing up its entire arm before spinning with his sword and slicing the monster's arm off.

It roared in agony and spun around to where the kid was now standing. Kirito had his back to the monster after diving under its legs and coming out on the other side. "Maybe if you didn't make that test so hard Kayaba," he sensed the monster swinging with its other arm towards him and he lifted his weapon and turned it in his arms, stabbing between his right arm and his ribs. The monster's fist was just about to hit him in the back when the black blade came out of Kirito's armpit and impaled it in its hand. "I would have gotten here at a time when this would have been a challenge. But I've been training for an entire month, I'm level eighty eight," he proudly stated since there was no one around him. He turned and smirked at the monster before jumping towards it and stabbing his sword straight into its chest and pulling down, leaving a long red streak down its entire body. He started swiping and slashing back and forth before jumping up in the air to avoid a kick from the monster. As he was on the downward's arc on the other side of the monster, he spun with his sword out and chopped the beast's head off, causing it to explode in thousands of blue shards.

He flipped his sword around in his hands and slashed it to the right and left before sheathing it behind his back. The group on the opposite shore stared in respectful amazement as Kirito started walking towards the town. Finally Will pulled out a blue teleportation crystal and said, "Check your menus, once the town is open, we're all going to teleport in there."

Everyone opened up to the list of possible towns they could teleport to and stared at the empty spot below Danac. They were waiting for the name of the next town to appear, which would simultaneously be added to their crystals.

Across the boiling lake, Kirito entered the archway of Lavaville and chuckled again at the stupid name. He walked down the street and saw that the atmosphere of the town was a lot nicer than the floor around it. NPCs were running shops on the streets, there were empty stores waiting to be rented by players who wanted to start businesses on the floor, _seems like a pretty nice town. _

The boy kept walking down the main street until he saw the town teleporter and the center of town. Right in front of it, he saw Teddy standing there with his hand outstretched. "Hey Teddy," he called out and started jogging over.

The boy seemed to snap out of a trance and turned around seeing Kirito run towards him. Teddy held up a palm, the universal signal for someone to stop and the older boy stopped jogging. "Teddy?" he asked and kept walking towards him.

"Stop!" the boy shouted and took a step towards the teleporter. The sixteen year old froze where he was standing. "D-don't come any closer," Teddy gulped and looked back at the teleporter he had yet to activate.

Kirito could see that the square was still not open to players and he wondered why the boy hadn't activated it yet. "All you have to do is press your palm on the..." Kirito stopped as he saw the sign right above the spot they had to press their hands. "What is that?" he took a step but the boy shouted at him again and he stopped moving.

"Kirito," the boy's voice became calmer and a small smile spread on his face. "This was all I could do. I watched you fight that monster for a little," the smile grew, "you're going to clear this game. I just know it. As for me," he turned and looked at the sign, holding out his hand above the spot he had to place it.

Kirito had activated a teleporter before when he beat the thirtieth floor boss and a couple of other times when he was the first to the town. All the kid had to do was put his hand on the panel sticking out of the ground and it would sink down into the floor and vanish, at the same time allowing players to teleport to the square.

The eleven year old stared at the sign above the panel, "For the person who overcame this floor's challenge, you now have a choice." _Is he reading the sign? _Kirito didn't take a step towards the kid as if he did, he felt the kid was going to do something bad. The boy's face was turned the other way from Kirito, but the older kid saw a droplet of water fall from Teddy's chin and it splashed on the ground. "Don't turn on the teleporter, and wait for someone else to come. Or... Turn on the teleporter, and allow all those still alive to continue to advance through Aincrad."

"So turn it on," Kirito said to the boy standing twenty feet away from him.

"If you choose the latter," Teddy was still reading off of the sign on top of the panel, "your own health points will drop to zero. You will be deleted from this world, and your brain in the real world will be fried, ending your life." Kirito's mouth opened a little in shock. "Sincerely, Akihiko Kayaba..."

_What is this? Kayaba, how could you put something like this in the game? This isn't fair!_ "Teddy," the older boy started but as he spoke, the younger boy pressed his hand on the panel in front of him.

Time seemed to start moving in slow motion as Kirito stared at the kid, his words getting caught in his throat. "Sorry Kirito," the boy turned around to face the black-haired teen, "but my role in this is over. I wouldn't be able to help everyone get any farther, unless I did this." Teddy's health bar started to decrease slowly and Kirito's eyes widened as he saw it.

"Drink a health potion," he shouted at the younger kid and took a few steps towards him. Blue lights were appearing all around the kid and everyone who had helped him get this far were showing up in the square. They were all cheering and clapping Teddy on, until they heard Kirito shout, "Teddy, you can't!"

"It wouldn't help," the kid said with a smile on his face. Tears were still running down his face as he spoke, but he seemed happy, "I'm dying."

All the members of the team who helped the kid get this far gasped and stared at the green health bar that dropped down into the yellow and kept decreasing. "Look," one man pointed at the sign next to where Teddy was standing. Unlike the panel where Teddy put his hand, the sign did not sink into the floor and the players around it read it fast.

"It can't be," Asuna ran over to Teddy and grabbed him by the shoulders, "Why Teddy? Why did you..."

"It had to be me," the boy said, smiling at the girl next to him. His tears were contagious and the other players around him, known as the strongest ones there were in all of Aincrad, started tearing up. "I'm the only one who, whose life doesn't matter."

"That's not true Teddy!" Klein shouted.

"All of you protected me, you fought monsters that people like me couldn't dream of beating and you destroyed them in one hit. I realized it in that cave," they all listened to him as his health kept dropping down the yellow, "after this what was I going to do? I couldn't be of anymore help to any of you, but I couldn't just go back down to the first floor and wait. Then I saw this, I was scared, but at the same time I was happy. It meant that I could still help," he coughed and a few people couldn't hold back their tears any longer as his health dropped into the red.

Kirito walked closer and bent down in front of the kid, "Teddy, you are the bravest, strongest person in this world. I mean that from the bottom of my heart," the kid's tears stopped flowing as all those around him started to flow harder.

"Thank you, that means more, than you could ever know." His health bar dropped to just a small red corner next to his head and he smiled, "I'm just glad, that we could all become friends." The boy exploded into a hundred blue shards, scattering up in the air over the group and dispersing into the sky.

No one wanted to believe it. They stared at the shapes as they continued to float in the air, blowing in the wind and up into the air. They were all already looking at the sky when the gunshot went off, so when Teddy's face appeared in the sky, no one had to snap their heads up. The blue crystals disappeared but they all kept staring up at the boy's happy face, _Edward Black._ Seeing the boy's name made everything feel so real, a young kid had just died in front of them.

"TEDDY!" a female solo player screamed at the sky.

A few of the players wearing helmets allowed their visors to cover their eyes as they shed tears for the boy. One man wasn't crying and wailing like the others and stepped up on a park bench near the center. Kirito turned behind him and looked at the man with the red goatee.

Godfree started shouting over the screams of the other players. "Edward Black, no! Teddy, was the bravest person in this world. He believed in each and every one of us so much that he was willing to, to end his own life so that we could clear this world. We will _not,_ let him down. We will _Not_, let his death be in vain. Three cheers for the kid who saved us all. TEDDY!"

"TEDDY!" the group in front of him grabbed their weapons and threw their arms up in the air. "TEDDY!" They pulled their arms back down and then threw them back up again, waving their swords and spears around. The face high above them started to fade and the group became quiet. After a few minutes, they disbanded and went their separate ways in the city.

Some other players who weren't a part of the group appeared on the floor and started moving in to the new city. "Lavaville?" one man walking with his girlfriend laughed, "Stupid name for a city," Kirito overheard their laughter and wanted to scream at them. _They don't know, _he walked down the street feeling depressed.

"Kirito," the boy heard a girl's voice and turned his head to see Asuna walking towards him.

He looked down at the floor and turned his whole body so he was facing her, "I, I couldn't stop him." The boy stated and Asuna froze where she was, looking at the boy in front of her whose hair was down over his face and shadowing his eyes. "H-he put his hand on the panel, I, there was nothing, I couldn't," the boy stopped. He was one of the only ones who hadn't shed a tear when Teddy was dying on the floor, and he wasn't going to let Asuna see him cry now.

"It's not your fault," she said and walked towards him. She grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes, "You always try to put the blame of these things on yourself, but without you Teddy wouldn't have even made it in the town. He would have died thinking that he hadn't helped us at all. You fulfilled his wish," she paused, wondering if she should even bring it up, "It wasn't your fault Teddy died, and it wasn't your fault _they_ died either."

Kirito's eyes darkened further and he tried to turn away but the girl in front of him kept her hands on his shoulders. "Please Kirito, I see you sometimes," Asuna looked at the boy in front of her as he started to shake, "You're constantly blaming yourself, but it's not your fault they..."

"How would you know?!" he shouted at her, his hair lifting up over his eyes so he could stare directly at her. She seemed taken aback by his strong response and he shrugged his shoulders so her arms fell off of him. The memory of that day came back to him, "We went too far up, but I thought I could still protect them because of my high level. There was a secret door. Inside the room was one chest in the middle," Asuna's eyes went wide, "yeah you guessed it. It was a trap." The boy's angry tone went away and his eyes softened, "I tried warning them, but they didn't listen. They thought I was just another player like them."

This was the first time Kirito had ever spoken to someone besides Keita about what had happened, and the first time he spoke of it, the man he told it to jumped to his death. He continued, "They ran into the trap and opened the chest. We got trapped inside an anti-teleportation chamber, and the monsters were too strong. Th-they all, they all got slaughtered, all because I lied to them. If I had told them that I was a beta-tester... that I was a beater, then they would have stopped when I told them to. My lie killed them all." He stared into Asuna's eyes, "Keita killed himself once I told him who I was." The girl gasped and took a step back, "And now Teddy is dead too, all because of me, because I decided to take him up here."

"Don't put this on yourself," Asuna argued, "I wanted to bring him up here too." _They died in front of him?! I thought he wasn't around to protect them, that was the only way I thought they could have died. _

"Yeah, but I could have said no," the boy said, turning away from her. "When we first saw him, I could have told you that we weren't bringing him. It wouldn't have been hard, we could've just kept getting better until we could get across on our own." She was at a loss for words and the boy just started walking away. "Get away from me Asuna, everyone I'm with dies."

The boy started walking down the street, _I should have protected him. Why Teddy? You shouldn't have had to die._ The boy gasped as he felt two arms wrap around his front. _Asuna?_ Her hands squeezed him tight and she rested her head on his right shoulder, whispering in his ear. "It's not your fault Kirito, none of it. I'm not going to leave you alone, because it's not your fault they died, any of them. You don't have to worry about protecting me Kirito, because I'm the one who's going to protect you."

**A/n** **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review below telling me what you think. This was the longest one by a few thousand words, but they'll get back to their normal length after this... probably. I know it's straying a little from canon on the part of Asuna and Kirito, but it will still have the important parts from the episodes in there. Teddy Nooo! Next time Lizbeth comes back for her real introduction!**

Delta Marauder

I was wondering when they'd notice that there was no cannon fire at their deaths. Also a little late in the game but is that cannon shot and picture a reference to Hunger Game, I thought this at the beginning of the story but I always forgot to ask. Anyways good chapter, update soon, and keep up the fantastic work.

**Haha, yep. The Hunger Games instantly popped into my mind when I thought of the idea and I was hoping someone would pick up on it. And Thanks!**

Guest

:This is the best fan fic ever. This is so well done. If I didn't know any better I'd think you wrote SAO. There was so much missing from the show and you filled in so much, it's really awesome keep up the good work.

**Thank you for that amazing review and you reminded me with your comment that I probably should've been putting a disclaimer at the top of my chapters. If I remember I'll put it up next time, but just in case anyone tries to get me on Copyright stuff, "I don't own Sword Art Online." -Tmb1112. ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**May 17, 2024.**

Kirito was sitting by himself at a diner on the forty-seventh floor. It had only been a couple days since the Assault Team broke into the sixtieth floor, but because they had spent so much time waiting and getting stronger, the boss battle was going to happen tomorrow.

Usually the sixteen year old would be spending as much time as he could on the newest floor since he wouldn't be back to it as much once he got to the upper floors. However, every time he set foot in the fiery environment he couldn't help but see Teddy's face as the kid died in front of him. The enemies on the fifty-ninth floor weren't even much of a challenge for him anymore, so he figured he could rest until the sixty-first floor was open.

As he was getting ready to pay the check for his meal, he heard a voice speak his name softly from the entrance of the building. With a sigh, Kirito turned his head to look at the girl who'd been sending him countless messages over the past few days. When he saw her, his head tilted to the side as he saw three young children all standing behind her. "Kirito?" she asked again and took a step towards him, "I have some people here that I think you should talk to."

Kirito couldn't have been more surprised as the girl turned and walked out of the diner. The three children walked towards him and he took a good look at them, _they're all probably ten or eleven years old. One girl, two boys, _they looked at the older boy nervously and then all three sat on the booth across the table from Kirito. "Hi," the boy with freckles and red hair said to the sixteen year old.

The other boy, slightly taller than the others and with a meaner disposition, looked into the beater's eyes, "We were friends of Teddy." The kid had very short black hair and his eyes were a dark shade of brown.

"W-we just want you to know, it was Teddy's choice to go out that day," the ginger kid started speaking again. _What is this Asuna? Did you really ask these kids to make me feel better?_ "He told us he was going to help the Assault Team, but I," the boy next to him let his own face soften, "but we didn't believe him."

The kid with short black hair continued where his friend left off, "When we saw the article in the paper, we couldn't believe it. He really did it, even if he..."

"I'm sorry," Kirito bowed his head to the boy in front of him who responded angrily.

"For what?!" the kid slammed a hand on the table. "Teddy got the chance to save us. He was a hero, apologizing for that makes what he did seem meaningless," the boy felt a soft touch on his arm and turned to see the girl with long blonde hair shaking her head at him. "Anyway, Asuna asked us to come talk to you, so we did. Let's go Tommy," the boy stood up and walked towards the door, the ginger kid following right behind him.

Kirito was waiting for the girl across from him to start moving as well, but she just kept sitting there watching her friends leave. Once the two of them were left alone at the table, she turned and looked Kirito in the eyes for the first time, allowing the black-haired teen to see her bright green eyes. "When Teddy told us he was going to help the front-lines, I believed him. Even if the others didn't, I never doubted him for a second." She looked up at the ceiling with a smile, "That night, the last night Teddy was here, I stayed up with him and we stared at the stars talking about the next day."

_Why is she telling me this? I'm the one who let her friend die,_ the girl kept speaking with a happy expression, "He was happier than I'd seen him since before his mom died." _She knew him for a long time,_ the boy was confused at how this girl couldn't be showing any sadness even though her friend for so long was killed a few days ago. "When I asked him why he wanted to help out so much, he told me:

**"Prin, there was a time when I would have been happy to sit here and wait for help to come. I would have loved to just sit by and let others finish this game for me, but when my mom was killed, all I wanted to do was help, so that no one else would have to go through what I had to. My new friends, Asuna and Kirito, they're giving me the chance that I never believed I would have."**

Kirito kept staring the girl in the eyes as she spoke for the boy. His own expression was betraying his feelings, he didn't want the girl in front of him to know how he felt. She spoke for herself now, "Th-then," Prin's eyes glistened as she kept smiling even wider, "he told me a secret that I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. But now, it doesn't really apply anymore right?" She took a deep breath and then started speaking for the kid again.

**"Hey Prin, if I don't come back tomorrow, don't be sad okay?"**

The sixteen year old's eyes got wide as he listened to the girl talk.

**"My mom was the only one in Aincrad who knew about me in the real world. Everyone else I met after I got here, so you're the only one who will know this for now on. I have cancer..."**

"Huh?" Kirito asked, wondering if he had heard the girl correctly. She didn't respond and just kept recalling what her friend had told her, without shouting her responses like she did when he first told her this himself.

**"The doctors don't know how long I will last, but they don't expect me to make it past high school. I always thought that meant my life would be incomplete, that I wouldn't be able to do anything meaningful with my time. **He paused for a long time after this while we kept staring at the stars, but finally he continued, **Maybe in the real world that was true. I was just a kid who wanted to play a video game and his mom played with him. Even when we got trapped here I still felt powerless and unable to shape my own destiny. Tomorrow, is the day I can finally choose how **_**I**_** want to live my life. So even if I die, I'll be okay with it, because it will mean that I got to choose..."**

The girl stopped speaking and her cheeks flushed red, "That's when I slapped him." She shook her head, but didn't stop smiling once, "He kept talking about dying and I didn't want to hear anymore. When I first saw the picture floating in the air that day, I was so sad, but after reading about what happened in the paper, I couldn't have been more proud of Teddy. I knew that when he died, he must have been happier than he'd ever been, because he was able to make the choice that he was never given."

Kirito's head was spinning and he watched as the girl before him stood up. "So don't feel sad about what happened. Be happy that Teddy got to live the way he wanted," she walked towards the door and opened it, only looking back to say a small sentence, "He really was fond of you Kirito-san." With that, the girl left and Kirito sat at the table alone, thinking about her words.

_Teddy, _he clenched his fists but his mouth twisted up until his lips formed a smile. _Your wish came true kid, we're moving along again. People saw how determined you were to get out of here and the laid back attitude that was spreading stopped. Instead of adjusting to the game, people are more enraged than ever and want to get out of here as fast as they can._

The boy left the diner and headed for the square, "Teleport: Lavaville," he appeared in the town and the little boy's face appeared in his mind, but instead of feeling sad, he felt determined and rushed out to train as hard as he could. _Your sacrifice won't be in vain Teddy. You truly are a hero._

**June 5, 2024.**

The second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath walked across the field on the fifty-fourth floor. She turned to her right and nodded at the man dodging between the trees in the forest. Turning to the left, she made the same motion to the guy scampering through the tall grass.

Forty yards in front of the three approaching KoBO members was a grain silo. It had a large windmill in front of it and as the forest thinned out, the man on the right with the thick white beard ran behind the spinning structure. _If the information Godfree's scouts acquired is legit, then that's the location._

The tall grass got shorter and shorter until the man hiding in it could easily be seen and Asuna waved a hand towards him in a circular pattern. Understanding the motions, Kuradeel stood up straight and ran around to the back of the silo.

The girl with light orange hair sprinted past the windmill and the elderly man stacked up behind it took off with her and drew his sword. "Go!" She shouted at the top of her lungs so the third party member on the other side of the building would run in at the same time. After the word left her mouth she slammed her left foot into the crack between the wooden double doors. Both flew open and the girl charged into the silo, pulling her sword out as she did. "Freeze Laughing Coffin!" The men in black cloaks all over the room stopped what they were doing and looked to the doorway where the girl just charged in from.

The colors of her gear showed she was a KoBO member, but even if the uniform didn't give it away, Asuna was one of the best known players in the entire game. Not only that, but she was also known as one of the most powerful. "Shit," the men didn't have their hoods up since they thought they were safe in their temporary base and now the Lightning Flash had seen their faces.

_Five players, two are still green. Memorize their faces so people know not to trust them, _the girl's eyes darted around the room as the men circled up so their backs were facing each other. Won was standing next to Asuna with his sword drawn and a black cloaked woman facing the opposite wall saw a tall pale-skinned individual kick the back door in and he was holding a sword as well.

It might have been five on three, but three KoBO members would make anyone reconsider their options.

"Scatter!" The man Asuna guessed was the leader shouted. All five of the enemies pulled out crystals and didn't even try to hide where they were going.

"Teleport: Muntz!"

"Taft!"

"Algade!"

"Flora!"

"Lavaville!"

All five of the figures in front of Asuna disappeared but she wasn't going to give up and pulled out a blue crystal of her own. "Kuradeel, Won, pick a floor and chase one of them. I'm going after the one in Algade."

"It's not safe; I'll come with you," Kuradeel stepped towards her and held up a hand. During that time, Won obeyed the girl's orders and disappeared going after the member heading for Flora.

"No! We need as many as we can capture. Pick somewhere else, that's an order!" She raised her crystal, "Teleport: Algade!"

The teenager vanished and reappeared in the central square of the fiftieth floor city. As she got there she saw the blue remnants of someone who had just teleported away from the city. She spun around and didn't see the man she was chasing so she grabbed a girl right next to her by the arm. The girl seemed afraid but Asuna asked, "Which city did that man just go to?!"

"Uhh, he said Fertey," the short girl looked away and started to job off.

_Fertey's on the sixth floor, _Asuna shouted up in the air that she wanted to teleport there as well. When she appeared in the city, she saw the black cloak of an LC member right in front of her. Unfortunately for Asuna, the man heard the sound of someone popping up behind him and his eyes went wide as he saw who'd chased him. _Good, I thought it was the one calling the shots that shouted out Algade._ She took a step towards the man but he was already backpedaling and spun so that he could sprint away from her.

"Wait!" she shouted, _He's fast!_ She wasn't known as the Flash for nothing, but this man was giving her a run for her money and obviously knew Fertey's layout better than she did. He ducked into alleyways and side streets, and just as Asuna thought she had caught him, he hopped up on a windowsill before jumping to the roof of a building next to it. "God damn it, you're not getting away," she got on the roof as well and started hopping from building to building as they got closer and closer to the edge of town.

They finally reached the outskirts of town and continued jumping on the smaller buildings that were outside of the safe-zone. _Almost there,_ she got to the same roof as the man and then dove, it was the last roof before open wilderness and she collided with him in midair, tackling him down to the path below.

The figure's health dropped as he slammed into the ground and he stared at his green health bar as it went down. "I've got some questions for you," the girl muttered to him as she continued pushing his head against the ground. The man reached into his cloak to pull out a crystal so Asuna stepped on his hand and he yelped in pain. "Don't try anything funny, or I will make this _painful._" The man gulped and stopped struggling, _Good he cares more about his own life than the guild, this would have been a problem if he was one of the fanatic types._

"My Lady!" the girl turned her head and saw the man with long brown hair running from the town towards her. _Why is he here?_ "I'm so glad you're alright," he panted as he approached her, "I was so worried..."

"What happened to the man you were chasing?" she asked and he froze up.

"Oh, I'm sorry My Lady, but he got away." _You must not have looked for him for very long,_ "Anyways, is that the leader?" Kuradeel questioned as he walked towards them. Asuna turned to the figure she'd tackled and gave the man a confused look since he was staring at her subordinate with a scared look on his face.

_How would he know Kuradeel? I guess even the other Knights' reputations have spread around the world._ "Well, it's too late now," she was still upset that he let the other fighter go, but she knew he'd use the excuse that he was supposed to be protecting her over all of his other duties. "He was leading this group, but this definitely isn't their leader," she grabbed the man by the arm and lifted him to his feet.

"I'm surprised he hasn't tried to kill himself already," Kuradeel said directly to the man in the second-in-command's grip. The orange haired girl stared at her underling oddly for a few seconds and then started walking towards the city.

"This one seems to actually value his own life. You follow from behind, I'll walk in front, there's no need to waste a crystal. He won't try to escape," they started walking back towards the city. _We'll use the teleporter to Granzam and set Marshall on him, that will give us everything we need to know to find LC's base. He'll probably try to cut a deal, it depends on..._

"Ahhhuurgg!" Asuna jumped and spun around, her rapier still drawn in case she was wrong about the man behind her. When she turned her eyes went wide at the scene in front of her. Kuradeel had his sword raised, and it was plunged straight through the the back of captive's throat coming out the front.

"Kuradeel!" she shouted.

"My Lady," the man spoke with his sword still inside the other man's neck, "look." She pointed her eyes down from the sword sticking out of the man's throat and looked at his hands. The cloaked man was holding a red curved dagger that was pointing straight at Asuna's back. She opened her mouth wide and let out a small gasp, _he didn't have that weapon on him. How could he have opened his inventory without Kuradeel seeing? No, he must have had it hidden somewhere on him,_ "He was making a move, I had no choice."

"Th-thank you," she could barely comprehend what was happening as she stared back into the suffering man's eyes. He seemed so scared, and his lips started moving so she could read them, 'why' he managed to mouth before the sword was pulled from his throat and he exploded into a million blue shards. _Why? He would know why, wouldn't he?_ "I guess I owe you one," she mumbled as she stared at the crystals and then up at the sky as a gunshot rang out.

"I don't want any favors My Lady," Kuradeel started. "I just want you to accept my position and stop trying to get away from me when I'm supposed to be protecting you. That was a dangerous thing that could have happened, what would we do if our second-in-command were to be injured, or even..."

"I get it," she interrupted the babbling man. _He's right, I could have died if I was on my own. Even if this does seem a little weird, I guess I should stop making his job so difficult all the time._ "You're right, I promise I'll try to avoid splitting up with you and Won during missions for now on." This seemed to make the man ecstatic and he pretty much jumped for joy as they started back for the town.

The girl led the way and started giving out their new orders while she sent a message to Heathcliff. "First we need to meet up with Won," she put away her menu and kept walking, "if he successfully captured his target we can still proceed with the plan." Behind the girl, Kuradeel's face turned sour and his smile flipped as he continued to walk, now in the safe-zone, with his superior officer. "We'll decide what to do about LC once we've obtained more information."

"Agreed," the man behind her stated, "something must be done." The man smirked and looked down at his own wrist, covered up by the gauntlet, chuckling as he imagined the mark hidden underneath it.

**June 22, 2024.**

"Hiya!" Kirito finished his spin and slashed both of his swords into the dinosaur monster on the sixty-third floor. The creature's skin was thick, but it was the final boss in a quest series that would be giving him a lot of EXP. _Only down to half health? while I'm using my duel wield!_ The special ability he had was working less and less often for him the higher up he went.

Most battles, Kirito could rely on his secondary weapon and still get the job done. Many times there have been fights though, where his sword didn't do much damage and he had to pull out the Elucidator as well. During those battles, it was painfully clear that his black sword was much, much more powerful than any other weapon he possessed.

He sprinted towards the dino that looked like a smaller version of a T-Rex and slid under its legs. The boy slashed with his better weapon at the beast's right foot and made a huge gash in it, before rolling and slamming his silver sword into the soft underbelly of the monster. This dinosaur was fast however, and it maneuvered to the left just in time, causing Kirito to slam his secondary weapon into its armored kneecap where the blade shattered. _What?!_ The boy didn't have much time to be surprised as the right foot of the green monster came down and landed right on top of him.

The beast on the sixty-third floor seemed satisfied as it pressed down harder on top of the kid, but suddenly it looked shocked as its foot was lifted up over the ground. "I'm finished with, YOU!" he pushed up one last time as hard as he could and the beast stumbled backwards, its tiny arms flailing around as it toppled to the forest floor. Kirito didn't pause and sprinted up the dino, his Elucidator dragging through the beast, all the way to its chest where he knew the heart was on this particular monster. "Now DIE!" he spun his sword above his head and impaled the beast through the chest.

The boy and the boss made eye contact. The beast's giant black pupils got tinier and tinier until they vanished, the monster exploding from beneath Kirito. He dropped to the ground and picked up the item: Rex's Tummy Meat. _I could just abandon the quest and eat this myself,_ the kid licked his lips but discarded the thought and dismissed the inventory notification. _Nevermind that, I have other problems,_ he looked at the information for his less powerful sword, _unmendable, doesn't matter, that sword stunk anyway._ He sighed and started walking back towards the town on the sixty-third floor. _I need a weapon on par or better than my Elucidator so I can use a better sword for single-weapon fighting. I'm not helping out as much as I can on boss fights because I don't want people knowing that I have this power, but maybe... hmm, I shouldn't think too much about it, try fixing the problem first. _

The sixteen year old stopped in the middle of the woods and pulled out his menu. There were no decent swords in his inventory to use on the floor at the moment so he had to leave his duel-wield skill empty and had the Elucidator in his sheath on his back. As he was scrolling angrily down his menu he passed his friends list and smiled, _I know, I haven't talked to Lizbeth in a while. Actually, I haven't really seen her since we met, haha,_ he chuckled out loud and decided he would find out where her store was and visit her for a new sword.

A few days later, Kirito walked through the quaint town of Lindas with a smile on his face. He wanted to surprise the girl he'd met by chance when hunting for LC, so he hadn't sent her a message. Finding out where a person was in Aincrad wasn't as easy of a task as it used to be as there were now sixty three floors for people to be hiding on. He'd finally given up and was going to just message the girl, but when he was talking to Agil about it, the man laughed and said he knew exactly where the girl was.

_Who knew Agil and Lizbeth knew each other? Small world,_ the boy finally saw the house he was looking for. The waterwheel that Agil described was turning outside and splashing up water from the river. As Kirito was approaching the door, he smiled as he heard the clanking of someone inside forging a weapon.

The boy opened the door and looked around the room at all the weapons lined up on the walls and in display cases. _They all look above average for this floor, maybe even a few above, but not the top._ The room was empty, but a door leading to the back area where he guessed the forge was opened up and a smiling girl with pink hair and freckles walked into the room. "Welcome to Lizbeth's Smith Shop!" she exclaimed and then her smile went away and she opened her eyes wide as she saw the boy standing in front of her. "Kirito?"

"Hey Lizbeth, long time no see," he smiled at the girl and she frowned at him.

"You're right 'long time no see,' why haven't you messaged me?" she pouted and walked behind the counter he was in front of. The sixteen year old boy started scratching the back of his head and looking away as he came up with excuses about how busy he was and how he wanted to get a custom-made sword from her to make up for not visiting sooner.

"Well anyway," she looked him up and down and he didn't look to be wearing much gear, _Is he broke? I don't care if he is on my friend's list, he better not be expecting any charity._ "At the moment, prices are high."

"Don't worry about the cost. I just want the best sword you can make right now," he responded to her and the girl looked at him skeptically.

_Best I can make, I don't know if he'll be able to handle my best._ "That's a little vague," she started but he didn't seem like he was worried, "you'll have to give me an idea of your target quality level."

The boy accepted her request and pulled off his sheath from his back, removing the Elucidator from it and asking her to make something like it. He placed it in her hands and she almost dropped it, not knowing how heavy it was going to be. "Elucidator," she muttered in amazement, "a beast of a magic sword obtainable from monster drops."

"Can you make one?" the boy asked.

"Hmm," she looked at him for a few more seconds before turning around. _That's an impressive sword, but let's see how it matches up with you!_ The pink haired girl grabbed her favorite sword from the case behind her, "How about this one?" she turned and held it out. Kirito grabbed it and looked it over while Liz continued, "It's the best I've ever forged. My masterpiece."

The sword was thin with a green bottom leading to a gold-tipped hilt. The blade itself was much smaller than Kirito's and he'd never used one like it before, "It's a little light," he swung it around a few times to test it and thought, _light, but I can adapt._

"Well I did use a speed-type metal to forge it," Lizbeth continued.

_Sounds more like Asuna's type of weapon, _"Would you mind if I tested it?" he continued to stare at the blade as the blacksmith next to him asked what he meant. "You know, its durability." He held out his Elucidator under the silver blade and got ready to test it.

"H-Hey, wait a minute! Your sword will break in two if you do that!" Lizbeth was concerned that he was going to break his black sword but Kirito didn't seem to care.

_I'm glad she doesn't realize that I'm using two swords right now. That would be hard to explain,_ the sixteen year old chuckled, "If that happens," he raised her sword and it glowed blue as he used a sword skill. "It'll just be," he swung down, "too bad!" the silver sword in his right hand cracked in two as he slammed it against his black one. _Uhhh, oops._ The boy and the girl stared at the broken end piece of the sword as it flew across the room and exploded into a bunch of program shards and disappeared.

"AHHHH!" Lizbeth shouted, breaking the silence between them. _That was my best sword, how did he break my BEST SWORD?!_ She grabbed the bottom half from Kirito's hands and saw the little icon in front of it, "Irreparable," she whispered and the blade shattered in her hands. _My pride,_ she dropped to her knees with a small whimper, _all the time I put into making that sword, wasted._

Kirito took a step towards the girl in the red dress, thinking of something to say to her. _Is she crying,_ the girl was shaking and he was about to bend down when she shot up and grabbed him by the collar. _Not crying! More like angry demon!_ "What were you thinking?" she growled in his sweating face.

"Sorry! I never thought that yours would be the one to break," _since you said it was your best... no that was unfair of me to assume that hers would be stronger than mine. I messed up,_ he realized his mistake too late however.

"Is that your way of saying that my sword was lamer than you expected?" the girl shouted at the slightly taller boy.

_Uhh,_ "Yeah, sort of," he looked away, unable to think of a lie to get him out of this situation.

_The rumors are right, the beater's a jerk,_ she put her hands on her hips and looked up at him with a frown. "Just so we're clear, if I had the materials, I could make tons of swords that would snap yours like a twig!" She crossed her arms in defiance but was surprised to see a smile spread across Kirito's face.

"Oh ho," he said, smirking at the girl in front of him. "I'd really love to order one," _If her blacksmithing skill is actually as high as she says, then all we'd need are some strong materials and she could forge me a sword as good as my Elucidator, maybe even better._ "Something that could snap this one like a twig," he smiled at the blacksmith, hoping she would take the bait.

"I-If you're gonna be like that, then you'll have to help me every step of the way!" _I hate asking for help, but there's no way I could travel to the top floors on my own._ Her face turned red in embarrassment but the boy in front of her seemed confused by what she meant. "First, you'll have to help me obtain the metal."

"Nah, it's okay, I'll be fine on my own." _Help her? If she comes I'll be worried too much about her safety to focus on the task at hand. _"You'll just slow me down."

"Don't you insult me," she smirked, "believe it or not, I'm an expert mace user." _Maybe not 'expert' but I'm pretty damn good._

After a small hesitation, Kirito asked, "Then where do we get the metal?" She grinned, seeing that the boy finally accepted her terms.

_If Kirito is with me, I could finally do it!_ Lizbeth started explaining, "On floor fifty-five, there's supposedly a dragon that eats crystals on the Western Mountain." As she explained, Kirito grabbed his Elucidator and put it back in his sheath. "According to the rumors, it stores rare metal inside its body."

_Floor fifty-five? I don't know her level but,_ "I should probably go on my..."

"Furthermore," the girl ignored his interruption, "to get the metal, you need a master smith with you." She finished and Kirito closed his mouth as the girl gave him a cocky smirk, "Still want to go alone?"

He looked at her and sighed, turning away. _It's too dangerous,_ he looked back but the girl had the same cocky look on her face and he frowned, knowing he couldn't get his stronger sword without her help. "Just keep quiet and stay out of the way," he finally said without looking at the blacksmith.

"Hey," she frowned, _he didn't need to be so rude._

The boy's expression changed and he turned to her with a small smile, "Until we make that sword, I guess we'll be partying up." The two of them never really spoke the first time they met since Kirito had business with Laughing Coffin to attend to. The sixteen year old figured he hadn't really introduced himself correctly and extended a hand for the girl to take, but she frowned and turned away.

"Alright Kirito," she turned away from him with a scowl.

"You're being rather curt, but whatever, Lizbeth," the girl pouted and turned to face the boy she was going to be stuck with until they finished their quest. "Let's go," he walked out the door and she followed him. They headed to the center of town before teleporting to the fifty-fifth floor.

Appearing in the center of Granzam, Kirito looked around at the peaceful city, wondering if he would run into Asuna around town. As they walked down the street, Lizbeth noticed him looking back and forth and asked, "Looking for someone?" She was interested and also looking around to see if she could see a friend, but she made her tone out to sound as if she didn't care.

"I guess not," he said with a sigh and they exited the city. The trek took a couple of hours with small arguments breaking out between the two of them every couple of minutes.

Far in the mountains, the temperature dropped severely and the two walking through it could feel the effects of the snow around them. "A-a-achoo!" Lizbeth sniffled and crossed her shivering arms as they walked. "It's cold," she muttered and the boy walking in front of her stopped.

"Don't you have any extra clothing?" he looked back at the girl in the short dress whose long legs were exposed to the wind unlike his. The long cloak he had on protected him but the girl said she didn't know they were heading somewhere so cold. While Lizbeth closed her eyes and shook a few times, Kirito opened up his menu and pulled out a warm coat that he tossed to the girl.

"Are you going to be okay without this?" she asked as the furry coat fell on top of her head, causing her to open her eyes.

"I've had more training than you," he straightened his thin cloak that kept out the wind but didn't keep him from shivering. _Don't let her know that you're actually cold or she won't accept it. Besides, you were stuck out here for two days without any crystals a few months ago._

He started walking away and the girl behind him frowned as she slid her arms into the coat. "You really know how to piss me off every time!" she mumbled, _who does he think he is? Saying he has more training than me... hmm?_ she held her hands close to her chest and felt her coat, "It's warm." She was almost surprised and looked back forwards at the boy in black, _I can't believe I'm out here all alone with this guy I barely know. Things are certainly getting weird,_ she blew some warm air on her hands before Kirito spoke again, looking back at her.

"What's wrong Lizbeth? Giving up already?" the girl was lagging a little behind him and he decided to make a joke about it, which only angered the pink-eyed female further.

"I'm still going strong," she replied angrily and ran towards him. "And if you're going to be so familiar anyway, just call me Liz."

"Right right, got it, Liz," he said.

"Don't overdo it!" she shouted and he sighed. The two of them kept marching down the snowy path for another couple of hours until it was almost nightfall.

The top of the Western Mountain was covered in beautiful crystals that made Lizbeth's eyes go wide. A huge smile spread on her face and she started running for a cluster of them to see if she could get some materials for weapons. Before she could get far, a hand grabbed her by the sleeve and spun her around. "What are you doing?" she asked the boy who had a straight face and was observing the mountain.

"Get your teleport crystal ready," he told her in a serious tone.

_Almost forgot,_ "I know," she said confidently and reached for a blue crystal from her pocket.

"Also, I'm going to handle this part alone. When the dragon appears, hide behind one of those crystals over there." _She might have heard about the metal from a blacksmith friend, but I've heard about this dragon from people who were in parties with killed players. Attacking it on our own would have been a terrible idea if this was the top floor, good thing I've gained a lot of levels since then._

"Don't come out, no matter what," he warned her.

"Don't worry," she assured in an annoyed voice, "I'm no newbie either, you know. So I'll help you..."

"No!" he yelled at her and she was taken aback by his strong reaction. He stared into her eyes and she looked back into his, feeling something behind them, something scared. _Is he worried about me that much?_ She nodded and he put a hand on her head, "Good. All right, let's get going," he walked past her and continued up the path for the summit of the mountain where the crystal cluster was.

Behind him, Liz was still grabbing at the spot on her head where his hand had just touched. _It feels so warm, I feel safe,_ **"ROOARRR!" **the girl spun fast to see where the noise was coming from.

"Hide over there," Kirito ordered and she listened, the huge form of the dragon making her too scared to say anything else. The beast looked to be made of crystals itself and came out of the ground directly in front of Kirito. One of its hands was as big as the teen himself, and its wingspan spread over the length of three normal-sized houses. The blue dragon's back was covered in spikes, making it impervious to attacks from behind, as doing so would more likely than not, hurt the attacker in the process. It had red glowing eyes that focused on its clear enemy standing in front of it with a long black sword in his hands.

Kirito was ready to fight it, and the dragon was prepared as well, lifting off of the ground using its giant wings. The monster created a huge ball of blue energy in its mouth and spewed it out at the kid.

"Look out it's a breath attack!" Lizbeth shouted at the boy who was about to be consumed by the attack. Kirito didn't even flinch as he swung his sword and dispelled the attack, scattering it into the wind. His cloak waved in the wind from the top of the mountain as the kid charged at his enemy.

The amazed onlooker stared at the teen, _Wow. All with that thin weapon? Who in the world is he?_ She gasped as she remembered something someone told her once while she was working on a sword on one of the very early floors.

**"Hey Lizbeth did you hear?" the blacksmith put down her forging hammer and wiped some sweat from her brow. She looked over at her party member, a man twice her age who had been protecting her from before floor five was even cleared.**

** "About what Henry?" the girl with short brown hair asked.**

** "The thirtieth floor was cleared yesterday," a smile formed on the girl's face as she heard the good news. "Apparently the boss was killed by a single person."**

** She chuckled, "That's impossible."**

** "No it's true," the man said and she turned to him skeptically. "The one who beat it is the Black Knight."**

** "Hmm," the girl looked up at the ceiling and whispered, "Guess it's just a Miracle."**

Now as she watched him sliced back and forth on the giant dragon, tearing pieces of it apart at a time, she truly believed what her friend told her that day. _Amazing,_ he smashed his sword across the monster's face and huge chunks of scales were torn off, dropping the beast's health hard. _Is this what a front-liner is capable of, or is he an exception?_ The dragon lifted up high and then started dive-bombing towards the kid who at the same time seemed to be soaring up at the blue monster. He passed it by and swiped his sword, cutting off its left arm as he did. _No, Kirito is definitely an exception._

Lizbeth was so enthralled by what he was doing that she had forgotten what they'd come to do in the first place. Suddenly it hit her and she ran out from behind the crystal, "Come on, finish him off already!" The boy looked to be toying with it since he was so powerful.

The truth was that Kirito was struggling a lot more than he let on, and it was taking every bit of his concentration to dodge the dragon's attacks. He heard Lizbeth's voice and spun, looking down at the girl below and shouting, "Baka! Don't come out yet!" _she's a lower level than me, which means she's going to aggro... shit!_

**RARR!** Even without an arm, the monster roared just as loud as ever.

"What's the big deal? It's over now..." _it lost an arm how can it, oh no._ Both of the dragon's wings flapped hard and a huge gust of wind flew down from the sky and hit Liz right on. She turned and ran, "Ahhh!" she screamed as the wind overpowered her and with a cloud of snow, she was lifted up in the air.

"Liz!" the boy shouted as he dropped from the sky and landed on a crystal pillar. He sprinted towards her but the girl was already over a humongous hole in the middle of the mountain. _No! NO! I won't lose another party member!_

The girl seemed to hesitate when she was hovering above the exact center of the hole, before her screams got louder and she started plummeting to her death below. "AHHHHH!" _I should've stayed hidden, why did I leave?! It's all over!_ "No, nooo!" she closed her eyes and flailed her arms randomly as if trying to grab on to something.

The girl's eyes opened wide as she felt fingers intertwine with her own and she opened her eyes to see Kirito falling in front of her. "Liz, hang on," she couldn't believe what was happening but she wasn't going to let go and the boy pulled her in close, wrapping her with both of his arms as they freefell down the hole. He turned them both in midair so that he was beneath her and she continued to scream as they fell seemingly to their deaths.

Seconds later, but what felt like hours, they stopped moving and Liz cracked her eyes open. She was lying on top of something soft and she pulled her hands across it, slowly realizing that it wasn't a something, but a _someone._ "So you're alive," Kirito muttered as he lay on his back, staring back up at the top of the hole they were in. He was lying on snow, which was probably the only reason the fall didn't kill him.

Liz looked at her own health which was just below half and sat up from on top of Kirito's chest. "Yeah, I'm alive," she said softly and accepted a health potion he handed her. _Oh my... he almost,_ she stared at his health bar which was deep in the red and it started increasing slowly to the yellow. Liz took a sip of her potion and then looked down at the floor, "Um," she couldn't think of what to say and just spoke, "thank you for saving me."

"It's a little too early to thank me," he responded and looked up at the top of the hole. "How are we going to get out of here?" Liz suggested that they use crystals, but as Kirito thought, when Liz shouted she wanted to go to Lindas, it didn't work. "If we can't use crystals, that means there should be another way."

The girl in front of him didn't believe it, "How do you know?!" she shouted at him, "This could be a trap meant to kill people with a hundred percent certainty!"

Kirito put a hand under his chin and thought about it, "I see, that's a good point."

"Listen you," the girl growled, not expecting such a pessimistic answer. "At least try to cheer me up!"

_She's very demanding,_ "I do have one idea," he said and she looked ready to hear it. "To run up the wall."

Liz deadpanned and couldn't believe he'd just said that. "Are you stupid? Those walls are over a hundred feet tall! How do you expect to..."

"Why don't we find out if I'm stupid or not? I won't know until I try," his health had regenerated to full and he was ready for an attempt. The boy got a running start and sprinted for the wall, jumping so high in the air that Liz gasped just looking at him.

"Unbelievable," she whispered. Proving her right, Kirito's foot found an ice patch and he slipped off of the wall, falling back into the hole and creating a large human-shaped imprint in the snow.

The boy wearing all black climbed out of his person-shaped hole and mumbled, "If I had a little more room to get a running start, I would've made it."

"Yeah, in your dreams," Liz replied, crouching down and putting her cheeks in her hands. Kirito attempted it once more, but didn't even get as high as his first attempt so he gave up, every time hurt a lot and he didn't want to have to keep falling.

The sky above them started to get darker, which meant the hole was going to get dark very quick. Kirito lit a small lantern and the two of them pulled out sleeping bags from their inventories. With the dark, came a cold much worse than before even if the wind couldn't reach inside the hole they were trapped in.

After both of them were lying in their sleeping bags for a while, Lizbeth started speaking. "What a strange feeling," neither had been able to close their eyes and try to sleep as the dreadful thought that they might be trapped there forever was still lurking in their minds. "This would never happen in real life. Sleeping next to someone I just met for the first time, in a place I've never been before."

The two of them were lying on their backs, staring up at the stars but Kirito couldn't help but smile. _Really? That's what would never happen in real life? Not the fact that we were just battling a giant dragon?_

"Not only that, but you started running up the wall!" she giggled and smiled over at him, "You really are weird."

"Well, excuse me," he said back in mock annoyance and they both looked away and back up at the sky.

"Hey Kirito," she started after a long pause, "can I ask you something?"

_That's weird, usually she would just come out with it,_ "You're being so formal. What is it?" he questioned.

Liz pulled her upper half from her sleeping bag and looked down on him so he couldn't look away, "Back then, why did you save me?" She'd been asking herself the same question for hours and couldn't understand why he had jumped in the hole after her. His health had almost dropped to zero, which would have meant he would die in the real world, yet they barely knew each other.

He glanced into her eyes and then stared up at the sky while she continued focusing on his distant expression. "Because," he started, "I'd much rather die with someone than let that person die before my eyes." He smiled and looked back at her in a softer tone, "Even more so if she's a girl like you, Liz."

"You really are an idiot," she said, although her smile showed she was really touched. "No one else would respond like that," she slid back into her sleeping bag and continued to stare over at Kirito who seemed so peaceful as he looked up through the hole.

"Hey," she said to get his attention after a few minutes of lying there in quiet. In a very quiet whisper she told him, "hold my hand."

_Hold her hand?_ He looked over with a surprised look, but the girl's face made him want to hold her hand as well. _She's hiding how terrified she really is right now, but it's okay,_ he reached over, "Alright," he put his hand over hers and instantly felt how cold hers was.

"It's warm," she said about his hand and her fake smile disappeared, showing the vulnerable little girl that Kirito could already see. "Even though you and I are both data in a virtual world."

"Liz," he whispered. _She sounds just like Sachi, only this time I managed to protect her._ The girl felt safe, even inside the death hole atop a random mountain she'd never been to, Kirito made her feel safe. A smile formed on her lips and she closed her eyes, drifting to sleep in the lantern's light.

**A/N Hope you enjoyed. How will they get out of this one?! Anyway, thanks for the reviews and leave one below telling me what you think or any questions you have. Next time, more Liz and boss battles!**

Gg

Luv it

**Thanks!**

M3TM chapter 9 . 18h ago

Noooo Teddy! Anyway another great chapter, great imagination you fill in the story so well. "Everyone I'm with dies." Man the feels. Your fic is so damn good. I'm going to be sad when your done writing chapters, but hopefully you keep these going for a while I love reading them. Only thing I would've done differently would instead of the hunger games type cannon. In their inventories I would've had every player have an obituary that would update everytime someone died. Either way it's still awesome keep up the good work.

**Thanks for the feedback, always good to hear I'm able to cast the 'feels' on my readers, haha.**

PsychoSphinx

This story is beautiful. Kirito actually feels like a character in this story. Thank you for writing this!

**You're welcome... and thanks!**

Delta Marauder

TEDDY NO! HE WAS SO YOUNG! WHY DID YOU LET HIM DIE! WHY CRUEL WORLD! Anyways now that that's over with, on with the review. Awesome chapter, I loved it. Also loved the fluff at the end(fluff is the best thing in the world). You also just got to love how Kirito flipped a giant over by it's own fist. Anyways keep up the fantastic work, and update soon. Also Teddy's death was a grim reminder of Yuuki's death in the Mother Rosario arc...

**Pulled a Game of Thrones and killed off the guy everyone likes, ;(. I agree with how awesome Kirito's giant flipping is and Teddy probably seems even more like Yuuki now, guess the saga was still stuck in my head as I wrote. Thanks to everyone for reviewing and see you soon!**


	11. Chapter 11

When Liz woke up, the sky was already bright and she looked in front of her to see that Kirito wasn't there. She stretched up in the air and turned around, seeing the boy digging a hole in the snow. Suddenly the image of their two hands intertwined in the fire light made her blush and she shook the thought away, _Come on Lizbeth, focus._ She scolded herself and walked over to the boy in black.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Look at this," he responded and held up a crystal that looked different from the ones on top of the hole.

The girl Kirito was with tapped in front of the item and a description appeared in front of it. 'Crystallite Ingot,' the item read, "Wait, could this be..."

"Yeah," Kirito replied, "it must be the metal we came to get." _Glad I decided to dig around instead of just sitting and waiting for her to wake up._ "The dragon nibbles on the crystals from up above, producing this in its stomach." He chuckled as he realized why he'd never heard of the metal before Liz brought it up. "No wonder no one can ever find any!"

"You did it," she smiled and caught the crystal as the boy tossed it to her. Liz continued while looking around, "But what's it doing here?"

"You see," the boy started, "this hole isn't a trap. It's the dragon's nest." He decided to turn and look at Liz's expression for the next bit and he chuckled, "In other words, that ingot is the dragon's excrement. It's poop." _Wait for it, wait for it._ The girl looked from him to the ingot and then back a few times, before her face lit up and she panicked, throwing the crystal back at the teen.

Kirito pretended like he didn't know why she freaked out and continued, "Anyway, this means that we've achieved our goal. All that's left it," he tried explaining to the girl but she was staring at her hands, still disgusted that she was holding the virtual poop.

_Good thing I'm wearing gloves, that was disgusting. Wait a second,_ "Hey," she interrupted him, "you said this is the dragon's nest right?" He nodded and she continued, "If I recall, dragons are nocturnal, which means it won't be long before..." she stopped and both of them looked slowly up at the sky. Lizbeth's eyes popped and she screamed, "It's here!"

The huge blue dragon was fully healed from its fight with Kirito the day before and was soaring down into its nest. **ROOARRR!**

Kirito had no time to explain and sprinted towards the shocked girl. He ducked down and ignored her pleas as he threw her over his left shoulder and drew his sword with his right hand. The huge beast crashed down into its lair, but Kirito and Liz were no longer there. Instead, the teenager was sprinting up the wall and did a backflip with the screaming girl on his shoulder. "Liz hang on tight!" he shouted and slammed the point of his sword into the dragon.

A huge red gash appeared in the monster's back and it roared louder than ever as it flew back up its hole. They went higher and higher with the wind rushing past their faces. "We're outside," he exclaimed as the monster soared out of the nest and into the sky above. Once it had the room, it extended its wings to their fullest ability and the force dislodged Kirito's sword, sending the two passengers flying through the air.

Liz was scared at first, but when she opened her eyes, she was falling out of the air in front of a beautiful sunrise. The odd pink color of the morning sun washed over all the mountains making the snow on them tint the same shade. "Amazing," she said, forgetting about her dire predicament.

She turned away from the sun to the boy falling next to her with an outstretched hand. Liz looked at it, and then up at the sixteen year old's face as he smiled at her. Just like the night before, she grabbed his hand and instantly felt safe, not afraid at all that they were falling from the sky. "Kirito," she shouted at him with a huge smile on her face, bigger than she'd had in months. "You know what?"

"What?" he shouted at her, unable to hear what she was saying at the speed they were falling out of the sky. The wind was too loud.

"I-I like you Kirito!" she shouted.

"What?" he called back over the wind, "I can't hear you!"

"It's nothing," she yelled, still smiling brightly. The girl pulled him closer and hugged him as they fell.

"Hey Lizbeth," he said to her as they were pressed together, falling fast. She looked up at his face, inches from her own and he continued, "You might want to use that crystal now," he offered.

The girl tilted her head slightly, and then looked down where the ground was getting closer. _It was that close?!_ She only had ten seconds at the most and reached into her coat. Liz tried pulling the crystal out too fast and she bobbled it. Both players stared at the blue teleportation crystal as it left her hands and started falling in front of them.

Lizbeth reached out and her fingers tipped the crystal but it fell through her fingers as she tried to grab it. "Oh no," she screamed as it was just out of reach, but a hand extended and caught the crystal.

"Teleport, Lindas!" the voice carried over the wind and Liz looked away from the ground she was about to slam into to look at the boy holding her. He pulled her in tighter and they clenched their eyes, hoping they would make it in time.

The two of them didn't realize how long they were in the same position before they heard whispering around them and opened their eyes. The few players in the square in Lindas were all pointing and snickering at the two teens standing there, holding each other so close that they looked like one person. "Eek," Liz saw all her neighbors and pushed away from Kirito with a huge red blush on her face.

"Uhh," Kirito looked at her but the girl couldn't think of anything and her hair covered her eyes as she walked towards her friend and grabbed him by the arm. She started walking fast towards her house, pulling the guy in black behind her while he dragged his feet through the street.

_That was so embarrassing,_ Liz slid with her back against the door once she got inside.

After a few minutes of calming down, the two of them went into the back to Lizbeth's forge. She took out the crystal and picked up her smithing hammer. "You wanted a one-handed long sword right?"

"Yeah, I'm counting on you," Kirito said from the side of the room.

Liz took a deep breath and focused, _your pride as a blacksmith is on the line here, you have to make the best sword you've ever made. NO! The best sword anyone has ever made in this game._ With a new determined outlook, she held the hammer carefully over her precious metal. Both were completely silent as she hit it the first time and it flattened a little in the middle. She hit it three, four, five more times.

The more Lizbeth hit it, the more she felt she could do it. _The warmth of Kirito's hands. The way I feel. It's not an illusion._ A man's face flashed in front of her, two others next to him with large smiles on their faces. _Once I've forged a sword I can be proud of, I'm going to tell him how I feel, like I always wish I had with you... Henry._ The girl brought down the hammer one last time and the crystal started to glow bright red.

The boy's eyes went wide as he stared at the shape of the light, shifting from short to long as the light started to fade. The blade looked to be purple, _no it's blue,_ the red light completely vanished after creating the hilt of the sword and Kirito grinned at the masterpiece. _Perfect,_ the light blue sword looked amazing, _now all that's left is to test it._

"It's name is Dark Repulsor," Liz stated as she lifted the piece of art she'd created. "If I've never heard of it, then it isn't in the information brokers' directory." _Which means that it's never been seen before,_ she didn't want to get her hopes up too high and looked to Kirito, "Try it."

"Yeah," he lifted the sword and swung it a few times, streaks of blue following wherever it slashed. Liz asked him how it was and he responded, "Heavy," she was almost disheartened, but he said it like it was a good thing, "It's a good sword."

"All right!" Liz dropped the serious facade and jumped for joy.

"It feels like your soul has been forged into it." She smiled at his words and held her hands in front of her chest as her heart started to beat faster, _This is it. Tell him._ "Now then, the job's complete. I'll pay you for the sword. How much?"

"Um, well," she twiddled her fingers together, "I don't need any money. In exchange, I want to be your exclusive smith, Kirito."

"What does that mean?" he asked and she looked down a little, red flushing over her freckled cheeks. "Liz?"

"W-When you return from the field," _Here goes, _"stop by and let me do maintenance on your gear. Every day, from now on!" He stared at her for a few seconds before noticing the red color on her face and thinking about exactly what she meant.

_She wants me to come here, every day?_ He watched as she reached forwards, "Kirito, I," her hand was inches from his own when the door behind him flew open with a crash.

Both of them turned around fast to see who was entering the room, "Liz! I was really worried!"

"A-Asuna?" Liz asked and Kirito's eyes went wide as he stared at the girl in the Knights of the Blood Oath uniform.

"My message bounced back and I couldn't track you on the map," Asuna wrapped her pink-haired friend in a hug and closed her eyes, relieved that she was okay. "Where were you last night?"

_Wow, they're really close,_ Kirito scratched the back of his head in confusion, _what are the odds of that?_ "Sorry," Liz started, "I kind of got stuck in a dungeon."

"Dungeon? Did you go alone?" Asuna asked, ignoring the boy standing inches away from her.

"No," she raised her hand and pointed, "with him."

For the first time since entering the room, Asuna looked somewhere that wasn't directly at Lizbeth's face. "K-Kirito-kun?!

"Hey, A-Asuna," _now she sees me._ He looked at her with a blank face and said, "It's been a while. Or maybe it hasn't, two days?"

_Two days is a 'while'? How do they know each other? Wait no, if they're on the front lines together they're bound to know... each... other._ Liz stared at the smile on Asuna's face as the girl with long hair talked to Kirito.

"What a surprise. So you came here right away? If you'd told me, I would've come with you." Kirito sweat-dropped and smiled back at the excited girl.

"So, you two know each other?" Liz asked quietly.

"Yeah, we're both on the Assault Team." While Kirito responded, Liz noticed Asuna smiling at the boy and she remembered a conversation she had with Asuna only a few days before.

**"That'll do it," Liz finished mending Asuna's weakened sword until its durability was full again.**

** "Thanks Liz!" Asuna jumped off of the stone slab she was sitting on and ran over to her friend to receive her sword back.**

** "You're welcome," Liz smiled and accepted the cash from Asuna's hand and traded her back her sword. Suddenly she remembered something and asked, "Aren't you going hunting with the guild today?"**

** The orange haired girl in front of the blacksmith looked away and mumbled, "Mmmm," she looked like she was coming up with an excuse, "I took the day off." Asuna smiled at her friend who seemed surprised, "I'm meeting someone, you see." A light red shade filled the skin beneath Asuna's eyes and Liz smirked evilly.**

** "Oh," the pink haired demon said and then saw the obviously new blue earrings her friend was wearing. "So that's it huh? What's his name?"**

** Liz elbowed her friend in the side playfully and the other girl went a little more red in the face. "It's not like that," a bell rang striking noon on the floor and Asuna remembered she was supposed to meet with said person already. "Sorry, I have to go!" she rushed up the stairs to the door of Lizbeth's blacksmith shop.**

** "You've found something important to you, haven't you?" Liz whispered while grabbing the small blue gem embedded in her collar. **

** Asuna's hearing skill was high and she spun with her hand on the doorknob, "Did you say something?" she questioned.**

** Liz grinned and looked into her friend's eyes, "Nope, nothing at all. Just make sure it works out okay?" she waved to Asuna who was frowning.**

** "It isn't like that!" she exclaimed. She was running late though and turned, "Anyway, see you later," she rushed out the door leaving Liz by herself.**

_**Good for you Asuna. I bet you don't feel alone much anymore,**_** Liz looked around the empty room and could hear the chuckling that she was so used to, the laughter she never heard anymore. **_**It gets lonely here,**_** she walked over to the wall that had a few newspaper clippings pinned on it and looked to the top right where there was a picture.**

** The photo had her with her left index and middle finger raised in a 'V' with three men around her. **_**John, Niko,**_** she brushed her hand over the man in the front right of the picture with his hands on his hips, "Henry," she whispered and let her hand fall back to her side. **_**You're lucky Asuna,**_** "I wonder if I'll ever find something too?"**

Liz stared at Asuna and Kirito and her expression fell. "You didn't do anything weird to my friend, did you?" Asuna scolded the boy wearing all black.

"O-Of course I didn't!"

"The way you just stuttered is kind of suspicious," Asuna teased him and neither of the two noticed Liz's sad expression growing deeper on the other side of the room.

_That person Asuna found, it's Kirito isn't it._ She looked down from the two arguing people in her shop and stared at the floor with sad eyes. _This is unfair, why him? Why couldn't it have been anyone else that I fell in... that made me feel..._ she looked down at her hands and tried remembering the warmth of Kirito's but she couldn't recall the feeling.

"Did this guy say anything rude to you Liz?" Asuna asked, still mocking Kirito and trying to get her friend in on it. Her smile went away as she saw the horribly depressed look on Liz's face. "Liz?" she asked and now Kirito noticed the look on her face as well.

_What was she going to say before Asuna came in?_ he wondered while staring at the girl.

"Rude? Are you kidding me? The first thing he did was snap my best sword in half!" The smile was back on her face but Asuna felt terrible.

"Sorry," she put her hands together and gave a small bow.

"There's no reason for you to apologize Asuna." Liz walked forwards and leaned in to her friend's ear, "Hey, he's weird, but he's not a bad guy. I'll be cheering you on. So do your best, Asuna."

"Hey, I told you it isn't like that," Asuna called after the girl as she ran across the room. _What was with her expression before? Did something happen,_ the second-in-command of the strongest guild looked over to the wall where the picture of Liz and her fellow blacksmith's were, _I haven't seen her like that since..._

"Sorry, but I have to go pick up some supplies." The girl ran past the picture and up the stairs to the door, telling the two of them to watch over her store while she was gone.

"Wait, Liz," Asuna called after her and Kirito just stared at the closing door. _She didn't say anything about supplies before. What's up with her? She's acting off,_ the boy went and found a seat and chatted it up with Asuna.

Before they knew it, it was hours later and Asuna shouted in surprise as she looked out the window and saw the sun was setting. "How long have we been here?" she asked her friend who was still laughing from the last joke.

"Um," he looked around and shrugged, "I don't know, it hasn't felt like that long."

"You stay here, I'm going to go find Liz," Asuna told him and ran up the stairs for the door. Before she could make it, Kirito jumped from his spot on the floor and threw the door open, closing it behind him.

"No, I'll find her, you watch the store," he chuckled and closed the door, sprinting off after he did. Asuna growled in annoyance, but she couldn't quite well leave her best friend's store unattended so she hmphed and sat down on the stairs.

Kirito looked around for a little, but it wasn't hard to track Lizbeth to the other side of a bridge in town. "Lizbeth," he whispered from on the bridge and the girl sitting under it recognized his voice, stepping out and looking away from him.

"You shouldn't have come here now," she said with a forced smile on her face. "Just a little longer," she turned so that he could see her, and he saw all the pain she was hiding, "and I would have gone back to my usual cheerful self." She was holding back tears, but it was hard and she had to wipe her eyes.

"Liz," he whispered.

She tried to distract herself and asked, "How'd you know I was here?"

The boy pointed up to the bell tower and Liz followed his finger, "I scanned the whole town for you from up there."

Liz giggled, "You always do the craziest things." She walked away from him and went back to looking away so he wouldn't be able to see her pain, "Sorry, I'm fine. I'm not used to adventures, so I think it just shook me up inside. So," she crouched at the riverside and looked at her reflection before putting her hands in front of her face so she wouldn't be able to see herself cry, "forget everything I said."

"I wanted to thank you." Kirito walked right up behind her and said. "I've always thought it would be better to die than to survive alone. I've honestly always believed that," he looked away just as she stood up and turned to him.

"Kirito," she muttered looking at the sad expression on the boy's face. _He's not just saying that, I can tell. He's survived alone before... just like me._

"But," his sad look turned into a happy one as his spirits were lifted, "when we fell into that hole, I was glad that we both made it. I realized that everyone is striving to stay alive. Myself included. So thank you, Liz."

She looked down and then back up at him with a stronger determination, "Same here, I was always looking for something too! Something real in this world. I thought I had it once, but I lost it before I knew what I had. For me, the warmth of your hand, that was real." She was glad to get that off of her chest and looked down at her hands. _I can feel the heat again._

Kirito looked at the girl who was now smiling at him and he honestly couldn't tell whether she was happy or sad at this point. "Tell Asuna what you just told me."

_That's what this is?_ "Liz..."

"I'm fine," she spun and looked up at the sky, the clouds tinted orange by the sunset. "The warmth will still linger for a while. So please... End this world Kirito. Until then," a tear dripped from her smiling face and hit the grass below, "I'm sure that I can hang on!" _If anyone can do it, it's you Kirito. I believe._

"I promise. I'll clear this game, no matter what," he clenched his fists.

The girl wiped away her tears and sighed, still looking away from the boy behind her. "If you need your weapons or equipment repaired, come by anytime."

"Yeah," he responded.

Liz spun around happily, "Please continue to support Lizbeth's Smith Shop!"

_She sounds so professional, like this was all just business. I guess she forgot the whole, 'exclusive smith' thing. _He smiled at her and nodded, before they split and went their separate ways.

Kirito walked down the path towards the center of town and sighed, _I wonder what girls are really thinking about._ He turned a corner and his powerful Blackwyrm Coat spun behind him, he'd been using it ever since his Cloak of Midnight was slashed through by an earlier floor boss and it was still working strong to this day.

_Hmm,_ the boy saw a blinking orange light in front of him, _message from Klein?_ He opened it and read it fast, his jaw slowly dropping. _They beat the sixty-third floor while I was gone?! I didn't hear any gunshots which means we didn't lose anyone._ He pumped his fist and got to the center of the town, _thank you Klein,_ "Teleport: Rain," _either this is going to be a stupid town name, or..._

Kirito appeared in the center of the square on the sixty-fourth floor and turned to see Klein putting away his menu. "Hey," the boy said and Klein spun around surprised. The name turned out to be ironic as the sky was clear and sunny.

"Kirito?!" he shouted and then frowned at the kid, "So you decided to just take off for that boss battle? Wait until the town is open and teleport in like a free loader huh?" two members of the Fuurinkazan next to him glared at Kirito a little harder than their leader was.

"Th-that's not it, I was in a dungeon on a lower floor. I didn't even know there was a boss battle going on," he said truthfully.

The frown on Klein's face vanished and the man shrugged, in too good of a mood to be angry for long. "You know, it wasn't too bad actually. In fact, it went by pretty smoothly. Heathcliff showed up and we defeated it in under ten minutes," Kirito smiled and listened to the story of how they beat the boss. _Don't worry Liz, we're picking up the pace, we'll be out sooner than you think. _

**July 22, 2024.**

"Asuna, switch!" Kirito shouted after slamming his black Elucidator into the Ant King's right battleaxe. The bug was off-balance and the girl sprinted forwards and chopped off one of the six limbs, the one holding the spear.

"Nice, now it's down to three, let's see it stand back up," Klein cheered as the bug fell back and flattened on its stomach.

With a low growl that sounded more like a lion than an insect, the Ant King pushed himself up to his remaining three feet and glared at the man in the red samurai armor. "You just had to taunt it," Owen shouted at his leader and the short pudgy man leapt in front of Klein with his shield raised, blocking the attack.

"Heathcliff, go in on the left. We'll finish this," the leader of the Divine Dragons shouted and sprinted in an arc to the right of the Ant's head as it focused on one of his inferiors. The leader of the KoBO listened to Will's plan and charged with his shield in one hand and his sword in the other.

The Ant King saw Heathcliff coming and swung its longsword at the man which he blocked easily with his tower shield, Liberator. _I still can't believe he's had that thing this entire time,_ Kirito thought, remembering back to the second floor when the tall man pulled it from the secret panel in the wall.

Heathcliff and Will both ran in and plunged their swords into the sides of the sixty-sixth floor boss and it dropped down again, its health just in the red now. "Fuurinkazan, charge!" Klein shouted and four men with him ran in and used sword skills on the monster. A few of his friends were still busy fighting the smaller ant sentinels on the outside of the ring, but the five of them managed to bring its health to almost nothing before it swung with its only remaining arm and knocked the five of them away.

Kirito looked at Asuna and she looked back at him competitively, "It's mine!" they both shouted, going for the bonus drop that came from dealing the final blow.

_She might not even get it, it could go to any one of her party members,_ Kirito smirked at the thought but he still wanted to win and charged ahead of Asuna with one last burst of speed, slamming his Elucidator through the Ant King's forehead and dragging it out the top of its skull.

Asuna pulled back her rapier and slammed it forwards to the monster, but before it could hit, the beast exploded into blue fragments and she sighed. _Almost had him,_ she sheathed her weapon as the room filled with cheers, all the ant sentinels disappearing.

"Great job everyone," Heathcliff said and everyone stopped cheering to look at him. "We'll try to beat the next one in another week, until then, train hard. Grow strong!" he held up a fist and the crowd cheered before either heading back to the previous floor or moving on to the next one.

"That was a close one," Asuna laughed and walked over to Kirito who had his finger held up in the air as he scrolled through his menu. "What'd you get?" she asked and he frowned.

"The Rainbow Boots of Happyville..." he stated in a monotone voice. The few people who were still around him were struck speechless as his black boots were replaced by ones covered in brightly colored stripes.

"Look," Klein pointed while clutching his stomach since he was laughing too hard, "there's even pink, that's not even on the rainbow!" The other men around him started cracking up as the kid's face started to turn red.

_The stats are so much better, but I don't think I can live with the embarrassment. No, I have to think about more important things like safety,_ he looked away from his boots and was about to dismiss his inventory when he saw Asuna giggling, "You know, they are kind of cute," she offered. _Nope._ He switched them back out and called for a trade where most people around him jumped on the opportunity and he wound up making a lot of Col from it.

"What? I thought they were pretty nice," Asuna asked him when he finally walked away with a large smirk on his face. The two of them started heading up for the next floor together and Kirito couldn't help but blush as she talked about how he looked with the cute 'booties,' as she referred to them, on his feet.

When they were about halfway up the stairs, Kirito stopped. His enhanced detection let him know that there were two people that he recognized up the stairs a ways and he turned to Asuna, "Actually I forgot, I have something I need to do back on the sixty-sixth. I'll see you up there later," he turned and jogged back down.

"Wait, Kirito," she held up a hand after him but he was gone and she spun, walking up the stairs with a confused look on her face. "Why did he run away so suddenly?" she mumbled to herself and then looked up to see two people waiting for her at the top of the stairs.

"Asuna-sama."

"My Lady," Kuradeel called from the top of the stairs and Asuna frowned. _I understand why they have to follow me, but every time Kuradeel sees me next to Kirito, he just has to say something rude. Though it's not all his fault, Kirito does come off a little rough for some people._

"Thomas, Kuradeel," she nodded at the two of them and they walked out onto the next floor. Seeing the young man next to Kuradeel who was supposed to be protecting her, the face of the old man who used to follow her around popped in front of her eyes. _Won, I'm so sorry._

Months earlier, when she'd attacked the small Laughing Coffin hideout with her bodyguards, she'd sent them after a member each. Kuradeel let his escape to come after her, which in the end wound up being a lifesaver, literally as the man stabbed her assailant through the throat. _Won,_ she looked up at the sky of the sixty-seventh floor and was glad it was a normal one, no black clouds of death, no rain, just sunshine and white fluffy clouds.

** She could still remember getting the message from her old bodyguard that said he'd caught the man he was chasing. When she went to report what had gone on during their mission, Kuradeel went to help Won near Flora where he'd captured the struggling member of LC who didn't want to get back to the safe zone and kept trying to kill himself.**

** While reporting directly to Heathcliff, a cannon went off in the air and the two leaders of the strongest guild ran to the window to see who it was. Asuna's eyes grew three times their size as she saw Won's smiling face floating in the air. Her leader couldn't stop her from going, so instead he went with her as they teleported to Flora and ran to the outside of town.**

** "Look," Heathcliff pointed down the path and they saw the outline of a figure crawling down the path towards them. **

** "Kuradeel!" she exclaimed and ran over to her fallen bodyguard. The man could barely move, his health was in the yellow and he had a lightning bolt next to his bar. "You're paralyzed," she said and pulled out a potion. Meanwhile, their leader was looking around, but saw no sign of the enemy.**

** "Al-gade," Kuradeel muttered as Asuna poured the potion into his mouth. He managed to put a fist down and push himself to his knees once his paralysis was gone. "The bastard had us fooled and pulled a knife, he, he got Won," Kuradeel looked away and Asuna could hear the whimpering sobs.**

** "We'll go after him," Asuna stated but the leader held out an arm. Kuradeel turned to the man and looked at him confused, his tears seeming to disappear as he looked into the other man's eyes with unease.**

** "He would have already travelled to multiple other towns by now, the trail is gone," Heathcliff sheathed his drawn sword and started walking back towards Flora. "Laughing Coffin will pay for this," the man scowled. Asuna was bent over her subordinate and giving him a health potion, but the man was looking after the leader who cast one look back at Kuradeel and made the bodyguard shiver and sweat.**

"Laughing Coffin will be defeated," Asuna stated as they walked towards the town in the distance.

Thomas had just defeated a small rock troll that came out of the ground next to the path and turned to the woman he was protecting, "Where did that come from?" he asked her.

"It doesn't matter," she responded, "it is the truth. LC will perish and be erased from this game. I swear it."

Kuradeel nodded and looked away from the girl, stabbing his sword into a rock troll and spinning to take off its head in a second blow. The monster was stronger than the ones on the previous floor however, and the beast's head didn't come off, only a large red gash appeared on its neck and it swiped back, injuring the bodyguard who flew into a rage and started smashing his sword over and over again into the rock troll's body.

Even after the mob was gone, the man with the pale wrinkly face kept stabbing his sword into the ground where the beast was. "Uhh, you alright?" Thomas asked his party member and Kuradeel finally looked up, out of breath and panting. He suddenly remembered where he was and sheathed his sword, pretending like he didn't notice the odd looks both Asuna and Thomas were giving him.

_Odd, Kuradeel doesn't normally lose his composure like that. He looked, well, he looked crazy,_ the man went back to normal and continued to lead her so Asuna shook away the thought. _Hah, who am I kidding, he saved my life, I shouldn't be thinking like that._ She continued to walk and pulled her own sword to get some experience from the monsters around her.

Kuradeel looked over at the girl he was protecting and smirked, _Good, she still doesn't suspect a thing._ The man chuckled as he thought back to his former comrade. _He would have told them everything, including me. I needed to put that knife in his hand. He needed to die. Just like Won needed to die,_ Kuradeel tried to hold in the laughter that he wanted to cackle up at the sky. _Wait 'till later, tonight we're going hunting. Hahaha!_

**A/N Hello again and I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter! I've had this done for a few days but kept forgetting to update, my bad. Anyway thanks for the reviews, leave one below telling me what you think or any questions you have about the story.**

Delta Marauder

Good chapter, update soon, and keep up the fantastic work. Also TEDDY was already dying of cancer? And they didn't even invent a cure yet? Damn the sucks.

**Thanks! Only ten years in the future, cancer might still be around then, :(. Teddy no!**

PsychoSphinx

Nice work on this chapter! Keep up the good work.

**Thanks, I'll try.**

Kirinthor

Really liking this. Keep it up :)

**Thank you!**

M3MT

Just a suggestion but think you can write how you think kuradeel got involved with LC but also ended up as a KoBO? I could never really think of a good back story for it. Also another good chapter. The way you write the characters make them seem like how the actual characters are.

**Yeah I have been thinking about giving him a flashback, but it will probably be around the time Kirito gets involved in the KoBO. And thank you! Next time on SAOE, Laughing Coffin Raid!**


	12. Chapter 12

**August 10, 2024.**

"What's up Kirito?" Agil asked the kid and fist-bumped with him. The boy in all black didn't respond and they looked over to where Will was standing in front of the large crowd of people.

"Settle down, settle down," Will called out and then backed up so another man in silver armor could step forwards.

"My name is Ichiwo," the man spoke with a large smile on his face and held up an arm, there was no armor on his forearm and everyone gasped as they saw the Laughing Coffin tattoo on his wrist. "I've infiltrated LC, and we know where their base is."

Whispers scattered through the crowd, "Is that why we haven't tried to clear the seventieth floor yet?"

"I thought we were just slowing down because of what happened on the sixty-seventh."

"Are we going after them?"

The man called Ichiwo slammed a fist on the table in front of him and suddenly Kirito remembered where he'd seen this man before. _Floor fifty, he was a clearer but I haven't seen him since we cleared the fiftieth floor. That was back in late December, which means from the moment LC was created, he's been trying to infiltrate them. The things he must have done in order to gain their trust. The things he has to live with,_ Kirito shivered and felt a grudging respect for the man.

They were inside a building in the main town of the seventieth floor just big enough to fit all the clearers who came for the meeting. The group had gathered in the basement of the inn and they all stared at the man in silver armor who gathered the report on LC. He started putting up pieces of paper on the wall with faces on them, "These are the highest officers in Laughing Coffin," he started and looked around the room into each person's eyes individually, "the orange players are the only ones I was able to get a good look at. All of the green players hide their identities during the meetings so I couldn't discern who they were."

"Who's that?" someone pointed at the man with a bag on his head.

"Johnny Black," Kirito whispered seeing the man he'd hunted months ago. _So he became one of the head honchos, I should have finished him when I had the chance._ Next to the man were two others that he recognized from the graveyard when he saved Schmitt, Yolko, and Cainz. _The leader PoH, and,_ he read the other man's name, _Red Eyed Xaxa. There's also the guy with white hair who announced Laughing Coffin's arrival on January first, Ziczac. Terminus, Gregor,_ he tried remembering all the members' names that Ichiwo gathered for them but the man continued on explaining where they could find LC's base.

Asuna turned with a grin to Thomas who was standing behind her to the left and the man nodded back to her. She looked over at Kuradeel and the man was glaring at Ichiwo but saw Asuna looking and softened his look, "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Nothing My Lady, I just think this might be too dangerous, you should stay..." the girl turned from her bodyguard not wanting to hear anymore of his plea. Kuradeel smirked when the girl turned around and he took a few steps away from the meeting before slipping into the staircase and leaving the basement.

No one in the room was focused on the KoBO member and were all listening to the details of Ichiwo's plan. "Most of their operations occur on the lower floors, which indicates that their levels are lower than most of the people here." This caused a cheer to rise up in the basement, "Also, every meeting I've been to has had under thirty members at it. That might not be the maximum number they have, but I don't suspect it's much higher than that." Again cheers and woops sounded throughout the crowd.

"Laughing Coffin doesn't stand a chance!"

"When do we go?"

Kirito was grinning and looking around hopefully. _The world might actually become a much safer place if we can finish off LC. More people will be willing to leave the cities, and the game will be cleared much faster than we could have hoped._

Schmitt spoke up from across the room, "How many green members are there?" he questioned.

"That's right," one of the Fuurinkazan added, "if we go and fight, or even kill, a green player. We could go orange for life."

Ichiwo listened to their concerns and then cleared his throat, silencing the room again. "We are not going to exterminate every Laughing Coffin member, our goal is to capture them."

Godfree stepped forward from in front of the KoBO members gathered and spoke, "The Black Iron Palace will be a suitable home for these criminals." A few of the Army representatives gathered cheered and rose their weapons showing they were more than happy to hold the prisoners once they were captured.

"All right," Will spoke up and stepped in front of his spy, "we leave tonight." A few people seemed confused at why they were leaving so early but the leader of the Divine Dragons continued, "There's no telling how many green members their guild has, or _who_ they are. We leave at six," he reiterated but this time everyone understood his concerns.

The room cleared fast as people gave each other shady looks, each one of them wondering if the person next to them was a spy for the enemy. "Kirito," Klein started as he walked up the stairs next to the kid. The sixteen year old didn't even see the man coming and reached back for his sword on instinct. "Whoa," the man with the fuzzy chin held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Sorry, guess I'm a little on edge," Kirito stared at two of the DDA officers as they walked by. The girl with short hair, Lind, and the man who uses a short sword, Yamata. Both of them tried to stop him from getting the revival item on Christmas and he shot them both dirty looks as they walked out of the inn, _could one of them be a spy?_

"Don't let what Will said get to you," Klein patted his friend on the back and a few Fuurinkazan around him laughed along.

"We've been with everyone in there for dozens of floors. I might not like everyone in there..." a man wearing a red bandanna around his forehead, George, continued, "but none of them are spies. He just wanted an excuse for rushing us."

Owen nodded and grinned, "I still can't believe we found them. This could mark a new era in Aincrad. Hey!" The samurai behind him with a katana like Klein's slapped him in the back, "What was that for Yuzi?"

"You're gonna jinx it," the man whispered to Owen and the Fuurinkazan laughed. Kirito even chuckled a few times as he watched the antics of the men. The three around Klein were the ones he knew from the real world and a few of the others were laughing as well since they'd become close to the four men.

Kirito left the men wearing red armor and walked over to a few of the people in white with small red outlines. One of them turned to him and took a step in his direction, "What do you what, beater?" the boy tried ignoring the large man and poked his head around the side of him where Asuna saw him.

"Ryan let him pass," she walked over and tapped on the big man's back. He grunted something inaudible and then scoffed at the kid, turning and walking away. "Hey Kirito," she said and they walked over to the wall where the boy leaned against it and Asuna stood in front of him.

"What do you think?" he asked and the girl shook her head.

"I actually didn't know what this meeting was going to be about until I got here, same as you." He looked at her skeptically, "No really," she said, "Will kept the Knights in the dark on this one. I guess he suspects there might be a spy in our ranks so he didn't risk telling us."

"There could be," Kirito offered and the girl shut him down by kicking him in the shin.

"Those are my comrades you're talking about buster," he held up his hands in front of his face and apologized. "Anyway, it's decided we're not doing individual parties for this one."

The boy leaning on the wall looked at her confused, _does that mean everyone is going solo? That seems weird..._

"We're creating a crusade raid," Kirito's eyes went wide as he'd never seen one before. Asuna continued, "Fifty people exactly, no more, no less. It will keep us more organized, and no one will be focused on trying to get more EXP for their party, or item drops." Kirito was at first turned off by the idea, but the more Asuna talked about it, the more sense it made. She finished, "We'll attack as one, and take down Laughing Coffin as one," she held out her arm, bent at the elbow. The teens bumped elbows and grinned before heading their separate ways to prepare for the mission.

_I'll see you out there Kirito, be careful._ Asuna walked towards her subordinates and they left the building.

"Looks like everyone's showing up for this one," a voice said from behind Kirito and he turned to see a large man with dark-skin sitting at the table behind him.

"Agil," Kirito smiled and sat next to the man he'd seen at the start of the meeting. "How's it going?" he asked and the man across from him sighed.

The man opened his mouth and then stopped. He looked around the room and then back at the kid in front of him and whispered, "Looks like I won't be able to go on this one," he held up a hand to stop Kirito from interjecting which the kid was about to do and he continued, "I just heard about the crusade party. Looks like they're going to decide once we gather who gets to join the fifty person party."

The boy sitting across from him realized where he was going with this and looked away, not knowing how the man must be feeling. The man showed him he was right by grabbing the table and shaking it with his rage, "It's not fair," Kirito looked up at him and saw a pain he hadn't seen in Agil's eyes before, "we all have reasons why we want Laughing Coffin gone. Just because I'm not one of the fifty strongest..." he stopped and got out of his seat. With a smile that both of them knew was fake, Agil gave the teen a small wave, "Good luck Kirito."

"Yeah," he muttered in response, feeling bad for the shop owner. _If it's only the top fifty, does that mean I'll have to show someone my level to get in? I don't want the DDA to see, actually, I'd rather no one saw. Maybe they'll let me in based of reputation alone, _he could only hope. Once Agil was out of the inn he looked around. _Fourth and fifth top guilds, NOPO and Grislax look as hopeful as Agil._ The members wearing blue armor and the NOPO insignia written across their chests all walked out of the inn while the ones wearing green armor with green helmets covering their faces stayed inside.

He listened in to the Grislax Alliance's conversation as he had nothing better to do and heard Uther, the leader, speaking to the others. "We've come pretty far to get to the number four spot so we're definitely having some Grissies in this crusade." The boy smirked at the nickname they had for themselves and the man continued in a more solemn tone, "We'd be higher right now if LC didn't kill Frank and the others," all of a sudden, Kirito felt bad listening and tuned out. The boy got out of his seat and walked for the exit while trying to ignore the cheers of revenge coming from the table of men in green.

_This is it, _he thought as he walked out of the inn on the seventieth floor. Kirito walked over to a park bench and sat down, _in the past five floors, we've only lost people on the sixty-seventh floor._ He shuddered remembering the huge black spider that tore apart half of the Illior guild. They were rising through the ranks and had just gotten sixth place, but with their leader and more than half their members dead, the guild dissolved. _It wasn't just them, KoBO lost a few members that day as well. Either way, that was the only floor we've lost people, and we're going strong towards the upper floors. Bosses aren't killing people as much anymore, which means the only real danger is Laughing Coffin. They've killed hundreds of people, it's time for them to disappear._

The boy clenched his fists and thought back to the meeting, _They absorbed Posion Apple and Death's Grace, thirty members my ass. We can still take them down though as long as we've got the element of surprise._

Later that day, the group met up back on the seventieth floor. There were over seventy members gathered in Reak, and they had a discussion to determine who would go. They wound up sending people one by one into the inn where they would open up their inventories in front of Will, thus showing him their level.

Kirito watched as person after person walked into the building. The NOPO members didn't show up, and he noticed that a lot of solo players were there. Each member walked in, and wasn't told whether or not they were part of the party since it wasn't clear until everyone had been in. His whole plan to let his reputation get him out of it didn't work as he watched Asuna and Godfree both walk into the inn. _If they're even making those two check in, then they're being thorough with this._

He resigned to his fate and when there was an opening, he walked forward and stepped inside the building that was empty except for a few NPC's and Will. The man wearing iron armor had a sheet of paper in front of him and a pen in his hands, "Open your inventory," he said the same thing he had to every one of the people who'd walked in, but he was watching with special interest to the kid in front of him.

The solo player sighed and used his senses to check if anyone else was watching him, but he seemed to be in the clear and pulled up his menu. The boy went into his inventory and unequipped his Elucidator before putting it right back in its slot and closing his menu. He turned and started walking away when he heard a voice behind him, "W-wait," he stopped and spun his head a little so he could look into Will's eyes. "I don't think," he paused and looked down at the three digit number he wrote underneath all the two digit ones above it, "I got the right..."

"You did," Kirito responded and walked out of the building without another word from the leader of the Divine Dragons. He left the inn and walked back into the crowd waiting for the results to be displayed.

After a few more solo players went into the building, Will came out with a list of fifty people and read off their player names. This ended about ten minutes after six o'clock and Kirito looked around to see who had made it through. A few solo players, and about half of the Grislax members backed away and walked off into the city. He even noticed a few DDA members disappearing into the crowd to avoid embarrassment.

The fifty remaining players teleported to the thirty-sixth floor with Will as the man shouted that was where they would be meeting the man who gave them all this information. Arriving in the square, not many people were around and the ones that were panicked when they saw all the heavily armed players with amazing gear from the Assault Team.

They waited for close to twenty minutes until it was 6:30, but Ichiwo, who was supposed to be leading the charge, never showed up. Will finally stepped up in front of the crowd and shouted out, "I don't know what happened to Ichiwo but he hasn't been responding to my messages. We're going in without him, follow me," he walked off and surprised everyone by not heading out of the town but further into it.

"Where are we going?" Asuna asked the man leading the crowd.

"The cave they're hiding in, it's a secret dungeon underneath Orlo." Asuna looked around the small city and had no idea that there was a dungeon underneath it. "Ichiwo told me where the entrance was so we don't need him leading us."

_True,_ Asuna thought but she was unnerved by the whole situation. Just as they were about to embark on this mission, the man leading them disappears. _I wish Heathcliff would have came, leaving me in charge of the KoBO on this mission. I have to make sure none of my men are killed._ She looked to Godfree on her right and nodded before turning to her left and receiving a nod from Thomas.

Klein walked with a serious expression on his face although he was feeling pretty good. All ten of his guild members, including him, had made it into the top fifty and he was feeling excited. Although the Fuurinkazan didn't have as many members as most of the other top guilds, they were number three because they didn't have any players that couldn't hold their own in a boss fight.

"I'm kind of nervous," George was fumbling with the bandanna on his head and almost dropped it. Owen and Klein turned to the taller man who moved his hands down and put them on his sword as they walked towards the cave entrance. There was a sign on the opening that said no admittance, but Will walked towards an old NPC man with a long white beard and handed him some Col.

The men in red armor sweat-dropped as they had been in this place before and tried to get in the tunnel, but had forgotten about it since a red barrier would always appear knocking them back and telling them they weren't allowed in. The old man who was handed the cash walked to the entrance of the cave and chanted some weird words before Will continued to walk and wasn't stopped by any barrier.

"You mean all we had to do..." Yuzi started and rubbed his forehead angrily. "I'm going to kill Kayaba, I spent hours trying to break in here." That was over a year ago and the short man sighed as his leader patted him on the back.

The cave started to get wider and wider until it didn't have rock walls anymore, it turned into a dungeon like the ones they were used to. The walls were distant and black, with floating shapes all around the room. "Weird, no mobs are spawning," Uther said and the five green clad men who had made it through the selection gathered around him as they walked.

"Everyone stay in formation," Godfree called out and the people wandering and walking in scattered spots got back into the block formation they were in before. The man with the red goatee smiled and held his sword out in one hand as they walked through the dark cave.

The man who'd helped Kirito back in the twenty-fifth floor looked over at Godfree and nodded. Xavier looked over at the Black Knight and grinned, seeing that the kid looked intense, ready for action

Kirito continued walking towards the front of the pack. He looked down at the solid white path they were treading on, and then turned to look at the massive group behind him. He'd seen the same people he was with take on boss after boss for the last almost two years.

The teen felt that he should be excited, that he should be smiling and happy that they were about to take down such a powerful red guild, however he couldn't bring himself to smile. The serious expression on his face was matched by the one on Asuna's and he could see she was deep in thought, nervous about what was to come. _This is a great moment in the history of Aincrad, so why can't I shake this feeling of dread?_

There were low green lights coming out of random features around them, casting an eerie glow over the crowd as they walked. There were about fifteen members of the KoBO and a little less representation from DDA. The sixteen year old wearing all black looked over at the officers of the Divine Dragons he didn't like but Yamata and Lind both had serious looks on their faces. _I guess when they aren't looking for rare items, they can be part of a team. _He tried to discard his prior thoughts about some of these players and wanted to work with them as a group to get rid of the menace facing them.

Kirito realized he had been walking too fast and slowed down so the others in the front line could catch up to him. He waited for Will and Asuna both to pass him before starting to move again. The boy saw Schmitt walking far to his left, holding a large shield and a lance, just like their leader who was walking directly in front of Kirito.

Will stopped without warning and made the group behind him hold in place. He turned around and let everyone in on the information he still had from Ichiwo, "We're almost to the Laughing Coffin HQ that was in the report. I'll go over this once more before we attack," the man's voice was commanding and everyone around started listening close.

One of the newer Fuurinkazan named Rob turned to his left and saw a solo player in all purple armor. He didn't recognize the man, but he was glad the man was there since he looked to be wearing very strong gear and had a powerful-looking sword in his right hand. Klein looked back at his friend with the green sash across his chest and gave the man a small smile, knowing that he was feeling anxious.

The larger man next to Rob on his right elbowed him causing him to turn to Owen. The man in all red armor didn't look back at Rob and instead just kept staring at Will, until the other guy understood and looked over as well.

_Lighten up Owen,_ Klein thought as he looked away from his two guild members and back towards the leader of the raid.

Will continued speaking, "They are red players." He paused so that his words would definitely stick in their minds, "Once the battle starts, they will think nothing of killing us. Many of them don't believe, or refuse to believe that dying in the game means dying for real. Others just don't care, either way, they're all murderers. So we can't hesitate either. If we do, they'll kill us."

The members of the raid in front of him nodded, understanding how intense this fight would be. The DDA leader added on a more positive note, "But we, in the lead group, have more people and higher levels than they." He grinned around at his members and at the ones in other guilds, "They might actually surrender without fighting."

Many of the DDA members started laughing along with the man, and a few others did as well. Kirito was much more serious and stared at the man, _I know you don't really think that Will. Trying to raise our spirits shouldn't be your main concern, it should be focusing on the battle._

Asuna also wasn't laughing but she saw a few of her guild members smiling and chuckling. She looked over and saw the Fuurinkazan were almost all laughing and getting ready to beat down LC with little struggle.

_I wish everyone would take this more seriously,_ Asuna looked around at the players who stopped laughing and continued to walk slowly forwards but she felt an odd sense of dread fall over her. _What is this? This, feeling?_

Kirito was feeling the same thing and his senses were going wild. It was as if a pin had dropped and hit the ground and the noise woke everyone at the same time. A figure was falling from above them and they all looked up to see who it was as it finally jolted to a stop, right above them. _Ichiwo?!_ The sixteen year old recognized the man hanging by his neck with a sword plunged through him.

"Ichiwo!" Will shouted but the man above them was already deep in the red. Kirito spun up to his right feeling people approaching him and saw three LC members dropping down from a ledge above him.

In seconds, madness had descended over the group of clearers who tried blocking the sneak attacks coming from all sides. Kirito blocked the first strike of a man in a black cloak who landed in front of him and he looked back up to where the man was hanging. _It's just like Cainz, only Ichiwo is really going to..._ the man let out a scream and his body exploded into blue shards, the sword stuck through him falling out of the air but halfway down it was caught by a cloaked figure. _PoH,_ Kirito saw the man drop from above and catch his sword before slamming it down on one of the Assault Team members below.

The kid spun with his sword hard and knocked back the man who had attacked him first. All over the place, the surprised players started to regain their bearings and were fighting back against the Laughing Coffin members.

Will was looking around in a panic as people kept falling from platforms all around them in a huge ambush. "I-Impossible, information about our plan actually leaked?!" three more figures dropped down from right above him.

The girl with orange hair parried a blow and hit the attacking man three times in the chest causing him to fall backwards before she spun and blocked another blow from the man coming in from behind her. _This isn't right, they have way more members than we thought! For each one of us, there's at least one of them,_ she looked around at each of her members that were engaged in separate battles. "Thomas!" she shouted and slid beneath a Divine Dragons member's legs to get to the other side where she knocked away a dagger as it was about to sink into her bodyguard's back.

"Well, girlie," the man cackled as the black hood over his head fell down. "Looks like you want to play," she saw the bag over his head and recognized him as one of the top officers.

"Johnny Black," she muttered in disgust while raising her sword.

"Ooh, Asuna-chan knows my name," he taunted and the girl ran in faster than he could follow and stabbed him twice in the chest. Johnny tried to follow up with a jab from his dagger but the girl blocked it with the hilt of her sword before bending down and swiping his legs out from under him.

"Bag him," she called out and two of her members ran over with rope, tying the man up as he screamed profanity at her. Thomas kicked the man in the face dropping his health from the yellow to the red and the man with the bag on his head shut up, although he kept struggling against his bonds.

_We're getting them, they may have surprised us, but they aren't as strong as the top players in the game._ Kirito felt a newfound confidence and blocked another attack from the enemy before locking on to the leader who just left a huge red gash in the side of a KoBO member.

"PoH!" he shouted and charged over to the man, blocking the finishing blow he tried to land on the fallen player. While their swords were colliding with each other, the man used his free hand to reach onto his belt and pull out a throwing knife. Kirito tried to protect himself, but the knife wasn't meant for him.

"I wasn't finished," the man growled at Kirito and flicked the knife from his left hand into the cowering figure of the KoBO member on the ground. The knife stuck right into his forehead and the man's eyes went wide before he collapsed and vanished.

"Raah!" Kirito pushed up hard with both hands and knocked the leader off balance, swiping twice back and forth to lower the enemy's health. PoH jumped back to avoid the third hit and landed next to one of the other members, both wearing their black hoods still.

The sixteen year old was going to follow up with his attack, but he heard a scream from right behind him and turned just in time to block an attack about to slice through one of the Fuurinkazan. "Thanks," the man said to him and Kirito turned to see the two men in black running with long red gashes still in them.

_Damn, they're escaping,_ he was about to chase after them when he heard shouting from the other side of the floor. He was locked in a fight with a man whose entire face was shadowed by his cloak, but there were two red eyes under the hood. "Xaxa," he growled and pushed back the man before swinging again. Red Eyed Xaxa parried Kirito's blow and struck with one of his own, catching the boy in the side and cutting through his virtual flesh.

Behind the man he was fighting, he could see three of the crusade members closing in on another one of the officers, Ziczac. _That's the man who appeared all over the world and told us to be afraid of Laughing Coffin. If he's taken down, it marks a new chapter, focus!_ He barely dodged another swing from Xaxa, but he didn't have to try again as three DDA officers stepped up and started attacking together, they had either killed or captured the members who had attacked them first.

Kirito saw a man on the floor tied up and one of his comrades was about to slice the ropes, "I don't think so," he ran over and sliced the man's hand, leaving a red gash up his arm. Two solo players attacked the injured man and Kirito finally heard a gunshot. The shots never took too long to fire unless the players were killed inside a boss fight, but now he started hearing them as rapid fire.

_We were caught off guard, but we can do this,_ he saw Asuna and a few of her guild members surrounding one of the LC players. Near her, he saw Klein and Yuzi tying up a player they had captured and tossing him in the guarded pile of people already caught.

He turned his head in a slight daze, _this shouldn't be happening._ He watched a solo player wearing all purple armor suddenly turn to the Fuurinkazan member next to him and shoved his longsword through the man's back.

"ROB!" The pudgy man next to him screamed and decked the solo player out of the way. The samurai with the green sash across his chest fell to his knees, looking at the metal blade sticking out of his chest and grabbing it with both hands. His sash was sliced through and he stared at the blade in complete confusion before turning to the man in the purple armor.

"But, why?" he asked as his eyes started to close. The man's green indicator turned orange and he rolled up his sleeve, showing a Laughing Coffin symbol on his wrist.

"NOOO!" Klein screamed and ran over as Owen started a one on one battle with the assailant. Kirito watched as Rob's health bar dropped to nothing and the man vanished.

He heard a few grunts and screams and looked over to where the three crusaders had Ziczac cornered a few seconds before. His eyes went wide as the man with silver hair started laughing maniacally next to the three bodies of members of the Assault Team. Two Knights of the Blood Oath members and one Divine Dragon were lying on the floor with deep red gashes in them, and finally they exploded and vanished leaving only their weapons behind.

The man with torn black clothing pulled his sword up from where it was lodged inside of the DDA player a second before and he cracked up. Kirito heard another scream to his left and turned to see a bright green light and a snarling man in a black cape pushing through the crystals of a dead body. He took a few steps back, sweat dripping down his face, he was terrified as he watched player after player disappear, the gunshots tearing apart at his nerves.

He snapped back to reality as he heard the scraping of a sword on stone and turned back to see Ziczac charging at him, sliding his sharp sword against the ground. _I can't die here!_ Images of Diabel, Sachi, Teddy, and Liz all flew in front of his eyes, _I promised I would finish this game!_ He rose his sword and blocked the attack from the crazed lunatic whose health was so low he could barely see the red line.

The man kept laughing as he tried pushing harder and harder against the green player wearing black in front of him. His efforts were for naught as Kirito pushed back hard and knocked the man off-balance, "AHHH!" he screamed and slashed as hard as he could, cutting right through the man's neck and taking his head off. A huge red gash appeared under his head and on top of his neck as the two separated from each other.

Everything started to move in slow motion as the man's still-laughing head dropped and hit the ground, his eyes popping as his body exploded. _I just killed a man,_ the thought came into Kirito's head and left just as quick, he didn't have time to think about that.

Klein had tears coming down his face as he lay on top of the orange player, stabbing over and over again into his chest. "You were supposed to be on our side!" he yelled at the man in purple armor as he dealt the finishing blow. "This is for Rob, and for OWEN!" he stabbed the man once more and wiggled the sword back and forth as the player screamed.

All around the room, green players faced off with orange players. Red particles were flying everywhere from people's wounds and it looked like blood floating around the battlefield.

Asuna was back to back with Ryan who was thrice her size and they faced off against two enemies at the same time. She knocked hers back and swiped at his legs where the man dropped and was down to the low yellow, surrendering and asking someone to tie him up instead of dying. As she wrapped the roped around his hands, she heard a moan from behind her and saw Ryan on the ground, his leg lying a few feet away from him before it vanished.

"No!" she shouted and ignored the man who wasn't going anywhere, to go help her subordinate. Her fellow Knight turned to her at the last second before a thin sword sliced through the back of his head and through his right eye, making Asuna freeze in place.

"DIE!" she heard the scream and managed to tear her eyes from the blue crystals surrounding where Ryan was just lying to look over at Kirito. The boy charged at the red guild member in the black cloak, slicing him back and forth for what he did to Ryan. The man had called him a beater only hours earlier, but he was a good player who was helping them escape, he didn't deserve to have a sword shoved through his face.

"Kirito," she whispered, watching the boy tear through the murderer and slice him across the stomach.

The man fell to his knees and held up his hands together, pleading for the boy to have mercy, but Kirito just responded, "Did you give Ryan any mercy?" he slammed his sword through the man's right eye and he exploded.

Asuna stared at the boy as he looked around with fire in his eyes. _He's looking for someone else to kill,_ she called to him, "Kirito, Kirito!" the boy turned hard and glared at Asuna, making her flinch. The look in his eyes was one meant for a murderer, it was of disgust and fury, and the boy realized who he was giving it to and the look disappeared. "That's enough Kirito, look," she turned and they both could see the fight was all but over.

There were multiple circles of players all with weapons raised. They had the remaining LC members who wanted to fight surrounded. The ones that weren't trapped in that circle were either tied up on the floor or... Kirito looked over to where four of the Fuurinkazan had their swords plunged deep inside one of the Laughing Coffin members. _Why won't they just surrender?_

There were ten men in black surrounded by over twenty of the Assault Team and about half of them dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. The other five were crazier and turned on their members that tried to give up, slaughtering the unarmed men.

One of the ones who tried to surrender scampered to the outer circle where one of the crusaders let him through and someone started tying him up. Kirito saw Lind bent down, tying up the man by his hands, but as she was doing it, the man smirked and slid a knife from his sleeve, stabbing the woman in the throat.

"No," Asuna gasped as the officer of the Divine Dragons perished, instantly avenged by Yamata who cut the man's head off.

A few minutes later, the Laughing Coffin members were all tied up and laid out across the ground. Will walked across the battlefield littered with weapons and he picked up the lance of the man he'd sent to gather information. _It's not time to mourn, that comes later,_ he turned to the crowd around him, each member dazed, staring into the abyss in confusion.

"Yamata, Shivata, Lind, transport them to the Black Iron Palace," Will ordered and waited for his top officers to walk to his side. Shivata walked over to start teleporting when both he and the leader froze, hearing that the woman was killed. "Lind," the man whispered, turning away from the others and walking off. In a loud voice he called out, "Mourn those who we lost today, and know that their sacrifice was not in vain."

Kirito was in a complete daze, still angered by what had happened, but with no one to direct that anger at anymore. A man walked past him with a captive in his arms to bring to the rest of the group and the boy recognized the man as one he had fought during the battle. The man knew this as well and looked up, "I will tell you my name."

"Shut up," Kirito growled at him and started walking away, "I don't need to know your name. I'll never see you again."

There were thirty-five members of Laughing Coffin captured, and using a mega-teleport, they were all transported to the Black Iron Palace on the first floor at the same time.

The sixteen year old in the black clothing looked around for people he knew, but Asuna had learned about more of her members' deaths, and she was hunched over, crying and calling out the name, 'Thomas,' while Godfree rested a hand on her shoulder. The man with the red beard wasn't smiling, and if he was, he would have been the only one in the dungeon since everyone was mourning. He saw the thin white man he barely knew standing next to the two of them and Xavier caught his gaze. The two of them locked eyes for a second and then the man in the white and red had to turn away, he couldn't hold a serious look and wanted to scream out in anger about the deaths of the friends he had made.

A few solo players walked away from the group and started walking back the way they came. Kirito saw one man in green armor curled up on the side of the platform, he didn't see the leader or any of the other members of the Grislax in sight.

He looked around for Klein and saw the man surrounded by six of his guild members. _I saw Owen die, and that man Rob, shit where's George?_ _George and Owen were friends of Klein before he even got in this world,_ confirming his thoughts, he saw Yuzi standing next to the edge of the platform.

"No," he whispered and then shouted much louder, "Stop!" The Fuurinkazan leader looked up at Kirito as he started sprinting and then followed to where Kirito was running.

"Yuzi," he mumbled and started stumbling towards his last remaining friend.

"Sorry Klein, I-I just can't," he fell forwards and neither Klein nor Kirito were close enough to catch him as he dropped into blackness and continued to fall. A gunshot sounded a few seconds later and everyone in the room became even more depressed, they started to leave the battleground. The weapons stuck in the ground from when their owners vanished made the atmosphere of the place very grim.

The boy turned slowly and looked at Klein, worry on his face. _Everyone of them is dead,_ "Klein," he whispered.

"Don't worry Kirito," he said, his red hair covering his eyes. "I won't kill myself."

The teenager watched his friend walk back to his guild, and then the group of samurai started walking for the exit. The DDA and the KoBO started to leave as well and Kirito soon found himself as one of the only remaining players there.

It took a while for him to put away his sword. He had it held in his right hand, shaking violently as if expecting more enemies to drop from the other platforms who hadn't already. _PoH, as long as you're out there, it isn't over is it? _The boy sighed and looked up at the black sky, _I should have killed you,_ he pulled out a blue teleport crystal and called, "Teleport: Algade."

When the boy appeared in the town square, he looked up at the sky, but it was long since the pictures of his comrades and enemies faded away. He didn't even know what he was looking for. The boy walked to the inn he called home and went to his room, he didn't feel like going out and training for the rest of the day.

He lay on his bed and closed his eyes, but instead of darkness, he saw Ziczac's face as his head was separated from his body. _He was an enemy, I had no choice,_ the red streak connecting the man's torso and his laughing head got bigger and bigger until all Kirito could see was red.

He rolled to his side and shook the thought, opening his eyes. _They were evil, murderers, the world is better without them._ His eyes closed and he saw the man begging for his life right before he shoved his Elucidator through the man's eye.

"I can't do this," he stated and sat up. _If I don't forget about this, I won't be able to sleep, I won't be able to think about anything else, and I need to be focused if I'm going to clear this game. Forget about them, concentrate,_ he got off of his bed and went outside, going back to the town square where he teleported, "Reak!" he shouted and disappeared.

The boy walked out of the town and into the closest dungeon, no quests, no objective, only there to kill as many monsters as he could. Kirito slashed the first red bat to fall from the ceiling and it fell past him into the abyss below before flying back up and swatting at him with one of its wings. He caught the wing with his bare hand and pulled it across his body where he shoved his black sword right through it.

The boy pulled his sword to the right and tore the wing in half, but the monster swung the sword it had in its left claw and nicked him on the shoulder. "RAARRR!" he screamed and knocked the enemy's sword away as hard as he could; the speed at which it was thrown lodging it deep in a rock near the wall. He jumped up in the air and flipped, stabbing down hard and executing the bat, its head exploding followed by the rest of its body.

The thought of Ziczac tried to slip back into his mind and he distracted himself by screaming and attracting two more red bats at the same time. Kirito switched to duel wield and fought with both his Dark Repulsor and Elucidator at the same time, trying hard to forget about the friends he'd lost, and the enemies he'd slain.

**August 12, 2024.**

Kirito walked back into Reak for the first time in over thirty-six hours. The sun had risen and he was exhausted, having not slept for days. He got into the town and saw a paper from the day before lying on the ground.

The boy already knew what was going to be all over the paper, but he wanted to check it anyway. The headline read, 'Laughing Coffin Destroyed?' and the question mark at the ends mirrored Kirito's thoughts exactly. He started reading about the battle that he took part in, and learned that thirteen of his comrades had been killed during it. Twenty-seven Laughing Coffin members were killed and the remaining ones were either captured or escaped. They estimated that less than five LC members escaped from the battle, but unfortunately, PoH was one of them.

There was a picture beneath the article that showed the sky right after the end of the battle. Kirito looked at the forty names and faces in the sky, each had either a Laughing Coffin symbol under their picture, or a symbol of one of the top guilds. There were only two players without guild symbols, and Kirito recognized one of them as the betrayer who turned on them midway through the battle. _He was LC the whole time, he was probably the one who warned them that we were coming. Riki Tudo, you killed Owen and Rob, but your betrayal killed everyone who died._ The boy crushed the paper in his hands and dropped it on the floor. It completely lost its durability and shattered into program fragments when it hit the street but Kirito didn't notice as he had started walking again.

Kirito wasn't the only one walking through the streets of Reak and the large axe-wielding man didn't even recognize the kid until he had almost walked past him. "Kirito?" Agil asked and the boy raised his head to look at the man. "I, there was," he stopped and shut his mouth. Kirito stared into his eyes and Agil looked back, unable to think of anything, "I'm glad you're alright kid," he wound up saying and started to walk away.

There wasn't anything he could say that would make the boy feel better, so Agil decided to just leave him alone. The next person to walk towards Kirito wasn't going to do the same and instead ran right up to him. "Kirito-kun!' the boy lifted his head again and saw Asuna running towards him.

"Oh, it's you," he said and looked down and to the left. _She was standing right there when,_ he stopped thinking the thought but he didn't have anything to slash so it was hard to ignore the memory. _I killed him right in front of her._

She walked straight up to Kirito and placed her hands on his shoulders, "Kirito," he looked up into her eyes and she tilted her forehead forwards, resting it against his head. "Are you all right?" she asked softly so that only he could hear it.

The boy ignored the four men standing behind her and only paid attention to the girl whose forehead he was leaning against. They were about the same height so neither of them had to bend over while they pressed their heads together. He closed his eyes, even though they were standing in the middle of the street, it felt so comforting being there with Asuna. "I am," he whispered back, "now," Kirito finished and the girl opened her eyes at the same time he did.

For the first time since entering the cave on the thirty-sixth floor, Kirito cracked a small smile and looked into Asuna's caring eyes. "I was so worried," she spoke as they looked at each other, "when I left the dungeon, you were still there. I couldn't find you at all yesterday," Kirito remembered what he was doing that whole time and suddenly his eyelids felt very heavy.

"Hey Asuna, I'm okay," he said and backed away from the girl. "I'll," he turned and felt a little dizzy but managed to keep his footing, "I'll see you later." He raised an arm halfway to wave at her but wound up stumbling to his right and put his hand out, leaning himself up against a building.

The four KoBO members who were going hunting with Asuna and had been standing back started to walk forwards. They were staring at the kid with confused looks, "What's wrong with him?" one of them whispered and his party member shrugged.

Kirito pushed off of the wall and started walking, ignoring the calls from the people behind him. _I just need some sleep, that's all,_ he continued to move and his blurry vision only got worse but he managed to keep going until he got to the town square.

_What's going on Kirito?_ Asuna stared after the boy, but watched his form disappear in a flash of blue light from the center of the town.

"Come on, let's head out," a Knight of the Blood Oath suggested and their group started to head for the outskirts of town. "Asuna-sama," the man called back when he realized that she was the only one not following.

"Huh?" she looked over at the waiting men, "Oh, sorry," she jogged over to them, casting one last look over her shoulder.

Back on the fiftieth floor, Kirito was still feeling really strange and it was more than just being tired. _Maybe it's a new negative effect like paralysis or poison, one of the new mobs could have given it to me in that last dungeon._ He yawned and stumbled down the street on his way to the inn.

"Hey! Uh, are you alright?" A man asked the kid who bumped into him. The boy wearing all black had his eyes mostly closed and just shrugged away the hand the man put on his shoulder. "Hey kid!"

_Almost there,_ the boy's vision was getting blurrier and he could barely tell that the inn he was standing in front of was his own. He stepped inside and the NPC innkeeper greeted him before asking if he was ok. "I'm fine Chuck, just need some sleep," his voice trailed off as he headed up the stairs to his room.

The boy got inside and dropped on his bed, but the sleep he felt coming didn't feel natural. A panicking thought flew through his mind and his eyes shot open, _What if I don't wake up? This isn't normal, I've been awake longer than this before, but I've never felt like... NO KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!_ He raised an arm and slapped himself in the face, but it had little effect and his vision was still blurry. He couldn't even see his health bar as the corners of his sight were getting blacker fast.

_Need to tell someone,_ he pulled out his menu and swiped to his friends' list. _Klein, please help,_ the boy tapped on his friend's name and started mumbling out a voice message. When he finished he was barely able to lift a hand and he tapped the send button before his arm fell back to the bed and his eyes closed. The notification hovering in front of his face read, 'Message sent successfully to: Asuna.'

**A/N Thanks for reading! Leave a comment below telling me what you thought and any questions you might have. LC finally gets their asses kicked, yay! Hope you enjoyed!**

Kirinthor

Another great chapter. Poor old liz, but asuna and kirito just fit so well. Hate kuradeel and cant wait till he goes. Keep it up

**Thank you. It's hard not to get the feels when watching Liz get rejected, ;(, but she'll be around! Kuradeel's time is coming, damn rats in the good guys. He even looks like a rat!**

Delta Marauder

Looking forward to reading the Raid on Laughing Coffin, anyways good chapter, keep up the fantastic work, and update soon.

**Thanks! Glad you were looking forward to it although I might've killed off a lot of characters there, oops.**

PsychoSphinx

I think I'm gonna reread this story because it's so great.

**Haha, sounds like a plan, thanks for that.**

mailbox killer

New to the store great work really like it

**Thank you and thanks to everyone reviewing and reading the story. Next time on SAOE... eh, you'll see :P**


	13. Chapter 13

In a field on floor 70, two Knights of the Blood Oath members slashed at the same time and cut the plain crawler in front of them in half. Another one of the group of five was locked in combat with a mountain lion type mob with purple eyes and the guy called for help from his much higher level party leader.

Asuna charged forwards and stabbed the creature seven times before spinning and slashing it all the way across its right side to finish it off. As she received the item, Lion's Pelt, an indicator started blinking in front of her and she clicked on it. _Kirito!_ the message was from the boy she'd just seen on her way out of the town and she played it while her other member thanked her and ran back off to continue hunting.

"Klein," the boy whispered and Asuna realized two things: Kirito had sent the message to the wrong person, and he sounded horrible. "Please Klein, come..." the boy mumbled some incoherent words and the message ended. Asuna replayed it again, but after 'come' she couldn't understand anything else the boy had to say.

_He told me his home is on floor fifty, that means he could be anywhere in Algade._ "We have to call off today's hunting," she announced to her guild members that were fighting around her.

"What?!" one of them called out as he parried an attack from a wind elemental. "We just got out here," he complained. Asuna didn't care and rushed towards him, finishing his enemy in one blow before sprinting to the other three members and taking out their enemies as well.

"I said we're going back," she said again. The authority in her voice dared them to challenge her. The men gulped and followed as Asuna ran back for the town, "Head back to HQ," she told them as they reached the town square. Then she shouted out that she was teleporting to Algade.

"Wait, what should we tell your..." the girl was gone and the man lowered his hand, "bodyguard?"

Asuna appeared on the fiftieth floor and looked around, checking her tracking skill and scanning the area, but Kirito's footsteps were long gone. A thought occurred, _Remember, when you followed him to Taft his trail was vanishing as soon as he left it. It was too long ago, even with my abilities I won't be able to find him easily._ The girl started running down the street and checked the first inn she saw.

"Hello," he walked up to the shady looking innkeeper.

"Want a room? How about two rooms? If you buy three I'll give you the fourth at three quarters its original price, except on Friday..."

Asuna grabbed her forehead, the man's incessant haggling driving her insane. "I'm in a rush," she growled at the man wearing the cowboy hat but he didn't seem to care. He offered her the deluxe sweet and she ignored him, managing to ask, "Is there a boy named Kirito staying here?"

"There's a Kim, or Prito," he responded off the top of his head before realizing what he was doing. "Actually, there might be a guy by that name staying here, give me..."

The orange-haired girl didn't need to hear how much money the man was requesting and left the building. _He wasn't in there, move to the next one._ She checked three more inns before arriving at one down Main Street the opposite direction that she took upon arriving in town.

She walked in and the tan-skinned man running the joint looked much friendlier than the previous inns she visited. "Excuse me, is there a boy named Kirito staying here?" she asked the NPC.

The man standing behind the counter of the bar looked up at the girl in front of him. The main floor of the inn was a tavern, but there were stairs behind him leading to the rooms. "Yeah," he replied and Asuna's doubtful look switched instantaneously, "in fact, he came in just a few minutes ago. Was looking pretty bad..."

She interrupted the man and looked into his eyes while she pleaded, "What room is he in?" The guy stared at her for a few seconds before sighing and saying that he couldn't give away customer information, even to a pretty young girl like her. "But I'm his friend," she said and the man still denied her.

_What's it going to take for him to tell me Kirito's room?_ She had an idea and opened up her menu in a way so that he could see it. She flipped to her friends' list and scrolled down until she found Kirito's name. "See, something's wrong," she looked away from the man in front of her, "he said he needs my help." _Those weren't his exact words, and he might be looking for Klein, but it would only hurt my case to show the man the recording..._

"All right," the man finally said and Asuna shot her gaze back up to smile at the man. "Come with me, I want to make sure you don't try anything funny," he warned. The second-in-command of the strongest guild followed the man up the stairs while thinking, _Even the NPC's are worried about sleep PKs. He shouldn't worry too much, now that Laughing Coffin is all but defeated. Except for PoH,_ the nagging doubt in the back of her mind that LC was going to come back ate at her, but she tried to ignore it and focused on the task at hand.

The man walked right up to a doorway and pulled out a key. "Quickly," Asuna urged him and the man unlocked Kirito's room, letting the girl in. She ran inside and looked over at the bed where Kirito was lying on his back, still in his all black gear. _He didn't even change before passing out, something's wrong._

The girl went to his bedside and reached her hand down, putting it on top of the boy's head. "He's warm," she said and pulled her hand back, "I think he's sick." _Getting sick in here? It's like the first few weeks when they were transporting everyone to hospitals, people were on the ground all over the place like this. He must've caught a cold or something in the real world._

"What are you going to do?" the innkeeper lost all doubts he had about the girl when he saw the concern on her face as she looked at the boy.

"I'm going to stay a while," she told him and looked over at the door. "He needs someone watching over him right now," the orange-haired girl looked down, _Kirito you're strong. You can't let something like this..._

The NPC saw the girl staring back at the kid in his sleep and he slid back out the door and shut it behind him. Asuna didn't even notice the man was gone and just kept staring at the boy, wrapping his left hand in her own and resting it on top of his chest. "You're going to be all right," she assured and looked around the room until she saw a chair behind a desk. She grabbed it and pulled it over to the bedside, sitting on it and watching as Kirito's face twisted in his sleep.

The boy rolled on his side and he coughed a few times, making Asuna more worried, but there wasn't much she could do except watch over him and make sure his health bar didn't start to drop. _Why would his health drop, it's a real life sickness, there are probably doctors working to fix him up right now,_ she tried to convince herself but it didn't make her feel any better as Kirito coughed a few more times. "Please be okay Kirito," she whispered.

Kirito rolled back and forth in his sleep, moaning while he did.

_"Run!" the boy screamed. He started sprinting past the other fighters while they all turned and started trying to escape. Kirito casted a glance behind him and saw the humongous snake monster. The Geocrawler was moving faster than the people behind him were running and it trampled them, their bodies exploding in flashes of blue light._

_ "Klein!" the teenager shouted as the man next to him tripped on a root and fell to the ground. The sixteen year old couldn't stop running and he closed his eyes hard as he heard the scream of his first friend from the game._

_ A man on Kirito's left shouted, "Go up the hill! It won't get us on high ground!" The man ran at the hill with a group of five others, all wearing green armor, but the hill started to shake from beneath them and Kirito stopped in his tracks. _

_ Vines started shooting out of the grass and roots started wrapping around the members in front of him. "NO!" he looked to his left and saw Will running forwards. The man in silver armor was swinging his sword down hard on one of the roots but he couldn't cut it. _

_ "Ester?" Kirito questioned as he saw the man in the silver armor held up by the hill's roots. The old leader of the DDA was in the air, held by one of the roots as four more roots holding swords flew towards him and started cutting him apart. A little blonde boy he recognized was tossed in the air by the hill's roots as well and the Geocrawler's head snapped from behind Kirito and caught the kid mid-flight._

_ "This way," Kirito turned and started following the boy wearing red armor. _

_ "Keita?" Kirito asked as he followed the boy up a different hill. _

_ "Keep going Kirito!" he turned around and saw three other boys behind him. One was wearing green, another had purple, and the third was in yellow and wearing a beanie. Ducker shouted again, "You can make it!"_

_ "Kirito," the boy heard a whisper and looked back up the hill he was running up. _

_ "Sachi!" he screamed and sprinted past Keita who had stopped running. _

_ The girl ahead of him held out an arm extending towards him and he reached out towards her, trying to grab on. They were only inches away when he started to drop, the ground coming out from beneath him. "No, Sachi!" he yelled, reaching up in the air for the girl as she held her arm out below for him to catch. His fingers touched hers but they slipped through and he fell into the darkness below the grassy plain._

_ Kirito continued to fall and looked around to see people falling around him. They all dropped down and landed on a circular white platform surrounded on all sides by black nothingness. "Where are we?!" he shouted but no one responded to him, no one even looked at him._

_ Sweat was pouring down the boy's face as he spun three sixty degrees and finally stopped the same direction he was facing before. Only this time, there was someone standing on the edge of the circle. He started walking towards the boy who turned around and faced him. Kirito froze where he was, looking at Keita whose face was half black with a red left eye. "You did this," the boy's eyes went wide and he let himself fall backwards._

_ "Keita!" Kirito took one step forwards but the ground beneath him began to shake. _

_ "Come on Kirito, focus," he heard the shout from behind him and turned to see Agil with his axe raised. The man was parrying a blow from a man with a bag over his head who was laughing maniacally._

_ Kirito saw a person sprinting towards him with a torn shirt, but he could only see white hair on top of the man's head. The rest of his face was blurry and he couldn't make out who it was attacking him. He parried the attack and jumped away. All the people in black cloaks seemed to have blurry faces to him, as if he wasn't able to, or was denying to see them. "Agil," the boy whispered as the black man on his right fell to his knees and collapsed._

_ Around him, people were falling and continuing to get stabbed once they were down. All at once, the pack of dying crusaders vanished leaving behind only blue fragments of themselves. Every Laughing Coffin member turned at the same time and faced the trembling teen who drew both of his swords. "RRAHHH!" Kirito sprinted towards the first person and sank his sword deep into the man's gut. He didn't wait after and pulled his sword through the man's side from the center where it was lodged, sending red fragments everywhere._

_ He started spinning around, slashing and blocking every attack that came at him, until all of the LC members were on the floor, covered in red marks. "Murderer, murderer, MURDERER!" He closed his eyes and dropped his swords, putting his hands over his ears so he wouldn't have to hear them anymore._

_ Suddenly all the noise around him stopped and he slowly opened his eyes. Kirito looked right in front of him to where a girl he recognized was standing. The blackness started to brighten and the background became white, light streaming in and illuminating the person before him. "Asuna," he whispered as the Lightning Flash smiled at him. _

_ "I believe in you," she whispered as the bright white light surrounded her head. She looked like an angel as she spoke again in a heavenly voice, "You will save us, save everyone, save me." After she said 'me' the bright light started glowing red and the whole area began getting hotter. He looked around as the walls seemed to be melting and he looked back up at Asuna as she spoke in the same gentle voice, "Now wake up," the boy looked at her face in horror as it began to melt like the rest of the room._

_ "ASUNA! ASUNA!"_

_ "You need to wake up Kirito. Wake up..." _"Wake up! Wake up Kirito! WAKE UP!"

Asuna was shaking Kirito violently as he had begun to scream in his nightmare. He was having unpleasant dreams the whole time and the girl winced thinking about the sleep-talker's nightmares. At the end he had started screaming her name and he was writhing around like he was in a huge amount of pain. _Come on already,_ "GET UP!" she shook him harder and he stopped squirming around so much.

Slow at first, but then all at once, Kirito's eyes opened and he saw Asuna's face. The boy looked at her with the light from above illuminating the area around her head. He raised up a hand from his side and put it on the girl's cheek, _she's not melting._ He sighed in relief and he kept his hand there, no longer shaking, _she's warm._

His eyes began to close again and the sweat pouring down his face seemed to stop coming as his mouth turned into a smile. _She looked happy,_ he could picture her face, her beautiful brown eyes, the warmth of his skin. _The warmth of her skin?_ He opened back up his eyes and saw the girl's face again, she looked worried and her cheeks were slightly red, even as he lowered his hand away from one of them. _Asuna... Asuna is here... ASUNA!_ The sudden shock hit him like a train and he shot up startling the girl watching over him.

"Asuna!" he cried out, the girl's face still only inches from his own.

_He still doesn't look too good,_ she looked to the top left of her vision to see if his health was decreasing any, but a small blurry black corner was all she could see. She turned further so that his health would be in the center of her sight and she smiled seeing it was still at full. The girl reached up an arm and rested her hand on the boy's forehead.

"How did you..." the boy started and then he realized what he must have done. _I didn't send that to Klein, I sent it to her! _"I understand," he said leaning back and feeling extremely tired. The girl's and was resting on his forehead still and he looked up at it. His vision was still really blurry, but it wasn't so much in the middle of his sight anymore, it had receded to the sides and mainly the corners of his vision.

Asuna felt like Kirito was at least a little better and finally backed away, putting the wet towel she was using to cool him off into her inventory. Her knees were on the bed and she was leaning in towards Kirito, so she stepped off and walked over to the opposite wall from the bed, taking a deep breath and leaning against it.

He saw she was breathing deeply and between his own staggered breaths he asked, "What's wrong?"

She looked at him funny and then wiped some sweat from her brow, "You were really panicking there for a second, you had me worried." The boy could tell it was more than that but he had to cough and he put his arm in front of his face, coughing several times before dropping his head back on his pillow.

After a few seconds of laying there in silence, he continued to stare at the ceiling but asked, "How long have you been here?"

"Since yesterday morning," she responded in a calm voice and Kirito jumped again, shooting his upper half out from under the blankets.

"How long have I been asleep?!" he shouted.

"Well," she opened her menu and looked at the time, doing some quick math. "Around twenty-four hours, give or take," she watched his expression, _priceless,_ she smiled. He was stunned that he had slept that long.

_I didn't know it was really that bad, it couldn't have been a new status from the new floor. I must have gotten sick in the real world,_ he accepted what happened and was about to sink back under his blankets when he realized something else, _she stayed here the whole time?_ He looked up at her smiling face and stared at her with a blank expression, _she could have just as easily told Klein about the message,_ "Asuna," he started and she looked at him. "Wh-" he stopped and thought about it for another second and then smiled up at her, "Th-Thank you." He really meant it and it showed in his voice, "Thank you for staying."

Asuna seemed taken aback at his statement and she looked away, "It was nothing really," she said feeling a little embarrassed. She didn't really know why she had stayed the entire time, but the thought to leave had just never crossed her mind. "You should probably get some more," the girl trailed off and grabbed her head, it suddenly hurting a lot. "Get some more rest," she finished and smiled over at the boy who was getting out of his bed. "What are you doing?!" she asked angrily and took a step away from the wall and towards him. _It's way too soon for him to be up and moving around!_

"Whoa," Kirito finished getting off of his bed and ran over, grabbing Asuna under the shoulder as she started to fall.

"What the," the girl seemed confused as Kirito led her over to the bed and sat her down on the edge. "I'm fine, really," she looked up at her health bar and didn't see any status-changers affecting her. She did notice however, that the black corners around her vision were starting to move in. No matter how many times she closed her eyes and shook her head, they wouldn't go away.

Kirito felt dizzy from the short run he made to catch Asuna, but he wasn't focused on his own health at the moment. He was staring at the girl who seemed to be quickly deteriorating in front of him. _"...save me..."_ his eyes opened wide as hers began to close, "Asuna!" he shouted and her eyes snapped back open.

"Oh sorry," she said, shaking her head to clear her mind. She stood back up from the edge of the bed and looked at the boy standing in front of her, "I've been watching over you for so long, I must've forgotten to go to sleep. Haha," she chuckled and took another step before losing her balance and falling straight into Kirito's arms. "I should go now," she whispered, "I think you're going to be alright." Her words started to slur at the end of her sentence.

"I might be, but you need to lie down," the boy said back to her. Asuna's head was resting on his right shoulder and he lifted her up bridal style, carrying her back to the bed and laying her back down.

_He's carrying me,_ her cheeks flushed red as he put her down and rested his hand over hers. Asuna looked up, _I'm sick? How? I couldn't have caught it from Kirito inside the game. A coincidence?_ The teen above her started coughing again and he wobbled where he stood.

"You're burning up," he muttered to her and she opened her eyes wide before they started to close again immediately.

"W-wait Kirito," she mumbled. _You're still sick, you can't... you need more sle..._ Asuna's eyes closed and the girl moaned out the rest of her incoherent sentence.

"Don't worry," he said to her and sat down on the chair next to the bed. "I won't let anything happen to you." The boy thought back to right after he'd told Asuna about his old guild's massacre, when he was about to go through the same thing with Teddy. _"It's not your fault Kirito, none of it. I'm not going to leave you alone, because it's not your fault they died, any of them. You don't have to worry about protecting me Kirito, because I'm the one who's going to protect you." She didn't leave me alone, she protected me, just like she said she would._

His resolve hardened and he slapped himself in the face a few times, making sure he wasn't tired and going to fall asleep while watching. The blurry vision he had wasn't going to go away with a few slaps, but he was trying.

Kirito sat in the spot watching as Asuna started to sweat in her sleep. She began to move around a little and moan in her sleep so Kirito put his hand on her forehead, _she's burning up! I wish there was ice in this... wait._ The boy looked down at the girl and whispered, "I'll be right back."

He ran out of the room and stumbled down the hall as fast as he could. When he made it to the stairs he took one step and fell the rest of the way down before hitting the first floor of the inn. There were quite a few people in the tavern, but the innkeeper NPC was the first one to run over to him. "Hank, please," he whispered.

"Kid, what happened? Where's the girl that was with you?" the man looked up the stairs but no one was following him.

Kirito lifted himself to his feet and used the counter of the bar to hold himself up. "Hank," he said in a louder tone, "can I ask you a favor?"

**Floor 58.**

Kirito stood at the edge of the city with his Elucidator drawn and ready. The town he was in wasn't the biggest one on the floor, but it was the closest to his goal and he stepped out of the safe zone, ready for the attack.

He was taking short, staggered breaths since he was focusing instead on his walking, making sure he didn't stray from the path as it started heading uphill. "Damn Kayaba," he said and then took a breath, "making seasons," breath, "in Aincrad," breath, "so I can't," breath, "find any snow," breath, "in the summer." He stopped and took a break, looking up the trail as it gained more elevation.

Kirito was heading towards the tallest known mountains in Aincrad. The fifty-ninth floor was higher up above the previous floor than most other floors were because the mountains would be scraping the ceiling if it wasn't. _There will be snow up there, there has to be,_ he started making his way up again and started to feel the temperature drop as he rose to a higher elevation level in the game.

A monster burrowed out of the ground on the far right of Kirito and he ignored it, continuing to move forwards as if nothing was there. It didn't chase him and he mumbled gratitude for being such a high level that being twelve floors away from the top meant he wouldn't aggro the beasts easily. Right as he finished mumbling, a rock golem formed on the path ahead of him and turned to face him. "Just had to say," he took a deep breath and got his sword ready, "something," he charged at the beast and sliced through it as it pulled back a rocky arm to punch him with.

His vision was still blurry and he missed the vital area that he was aiming for with his sword skill, slicing right beneath it and only taking away half of its health. The monster's fist slammed into his gut and he coughed up some red fragments before dropping to one knee and slashing up with his sword, cutting the mob in half vertically. _I need to be careful, I'm still sick,_ he wiped some of the sweat away from his eyes with his free hand so that he could see better and then started running up the trail, _but Asuna is sicker, and she's burning up right now._

With newfound determination, he ignored the breathing issues he was having and just focused on one thing, getting up the mountain. He used his combat speed to run while not even fighting and seemed like a blur to the monsters that turned towards him. Some were aggroed, but he either escaped from them or sliced through them in one hit while booking it up the trail.

Less than an hour later, Kirito was panting underneath an archway at the top of the mountain path. He looked ahead of him and saw a huge amount of snow just past the clearing where the top of the mountain flattened out, however, he knew there was one more thing he had to do before he could obtain that snow.

"Just on time," the boy said while drawing his other sword as well.

**ROOARR!** A large blue dragon dropped down from the sky looking very similar to the one he fought when he was with Lizbeth, only this one was a little bigger and had a smoother back.

He'd heard about this dungeon boss when he was on the floor, but the fifty-eighth was cleared before he could try it and he started fighting on the fifty-ninth. The boy ran towards the dragon as it raised up in the air and created a huge ball of frozen air that it shot down at Kirito. The teen jumped up and soared right over the blast, it skimming his leg as he misjudged how large it was. The small nick wasn't enough to throw him off course and he held up his light blue Dark Repulsor. The sword impaled the dragon in the stomach and Kirito swung himself around to land on the beast's back, pulling out the sword as he did.

The dragon wasn't having any of that and started flying faster to shake him off. He looked around for a hand hold but couldn't find any and dropped to the slippery back of the blue monster instead. "I guess I'll just have to make one, or two," he rose both of his swords up in the air and slammed them down into the monster's back, stopping himself from falling off and causing a great deal of damage to the boss.

The mountain boss started flying straight up in the air, spinning around over and over as it did before straightening both of its wings out far, dislodging one of Kirito's swords. The boy's Elucidator almost came out of its slot as well, but Kirito held on just enough to slam his Dark Repulsor back in, farther up the dragon's back. He then pulled his black sword and shoved it in above the blue, using his swords like ice picks to climb his way up the dragon's back towards its head.

**RAARR!** The beast started shooting balls of lightning and frozen energy all over the place, but it couldn't hit the boy crawling up its back. In a last ditch effort, it started dive-bombing to the ground. It was going to turn at the last second to crush whoever was on its back, even if it damaged itself in the process.

"I," the boy shoved his sword right below the base of the neck and pulled himself up to the hilt. "Don't," he pulled out his Dark Repulsor from the notch before it. "THINK SO!" He brought down his most powerful sword straight through the dragon's neck and it stopped soaring to the ground, instead just dropping out of the air lifelessly. The monster exploded into hundreds of shining blue shards and Kirito smiled as he fell, blackness coming over his vision until the only thing he could see was the bright light of the sun.

Suddenly he could see a face in the bright light, smiling back at him and his eyes shot back open, his blurry vision vanishing completely as he turned himself in midair and landed on the ground. If he had turned a second later, he would have slammed back-first and done a lot of damage to his body, but instead he took the minimal amount and started looking around as soon as he'd dropped. _Can't go to sleep, remember, she's counting on me._

Kirito went into his inventory and pulled out a basket that he owned. He brought it over to a snow bank, the only snow bank around in the middle of August. The boy in the Blackwyrm Coat started using his hands to pile snow into the basket. He filled it up to the top, and then kept going until it was on the verge of overflowing.

The sixteen year old pulled out a blue teleport crystal and said, "Teleport: Algade," while he was touching the basket with his other hand.

He appeared in the middle of the busy city with his basket next to him and he picked it up with both hands. Running as fast as he could without spilling any, Kirito made his way back to the inn and gave a small nod to the kid standing behind the counter. "DAD! KIRITO IS BACK!" the boy started walking up the stairs more carefully so that he wouldn't drop the basket, and he saw Hank at the top of the flight, starting to walk down.

The tan-skinned man nodded at the boy who quickly thanked him for watching over Asuna while he was gone. Kirito walked past Hank and down to his room where the door was still slightly ajar.

He walked in at the same moment as Asuna opening her eyes. "Who was screaming?" she whispered and looked around the room to see Kirito closing the door behind him. _Where did he..._ she stopped as she saw the white stuff coming out of the top of the basket. "Snow?" she asked, "but it's summer," she tried to sit up but Kirito walked over and put a hand on her head, keeping her down.

"Don't move," he whispered and sat on the chair next to the bed. The boy pulled out a towel and Asuna stared as he gently placed it in the snow and then folded it up before pressing it against her forehead.

_Where did he get snow? Wait, the only place he could've gotten it, is if he went to the fifty-eighth floor. That means he fought all the monsters and the final dragon, while he was still sick,_ a smile subconsciously went to her face even as she tried to be angry at him, _you could've gotten yourself killed. All just to get me some ice,_ the girl closed her eyes and the freezing temperature of the blanket felt a little uncomfortable, even though she knew it was helping.

She lifted up her right hand and put it up against Kirito's that was holding the towel. Even though he was grabbing the freezing towel, his hands still felt warm and the heat passed to Asuna as she held on to him. "Maybe now I could give you this cold back," she whispered.

He grinned, "Then this would have no end." They both knew that there was nothing connecting them in the real world, so they couldn't have possibly passed the cold to each other, but Kirito played along anyway.

"That wouldn't be so bad would it?" She opened her eyes and looked into his, "If you collapse again, I'll go and collect the snow this time. I'll make you some ice cream out of it too," she giggled as she looked at the blurry boy sitting next to her, her eyes closing and darkness taking over.

"Really?" he asked with a smirk, "Getting sick doesn't sound so bad anymore," he chuckled as she had only heard half of his response before falling back to sleep.

Unlike every time before however, the sick person wasn't having a nightmare, she was smiling and enjoying her dream where her and Kirito were together, sitting on a porch and looking out over a lake. The boy sitting next to her didn't know this however, he was just happy that she was sleeping peacefully, and he continued apply pressure with the cold towel.

Kirito watched over her until night fell, and then he tried to stay awake through the night. At one point Asuna whispered to him without opening her eyes. His head was nodding every few seconds as it dipped towards the bed from the seat he was sitting in and he listened to what she said, "It's okay Kirito, you can go to sleep."

Just like that, he passed out and his head rested on the side of his occupied bed.

The following day, Asuna was feeling better, and Kirito was already feeling a hundred percent. Her body seemed to rid itself of the virus about as long as his did, but he made her rest until mid-afternoon when she finally argued her way out of bed. They went downstairs and both of them thanked Hank once more who waved as they left the building.

"I wish Hank was real," Asuna sighed as they walked down the street. "The real world needs more people like him." Kirito nodded in agreement and the two of them kept walking down the street before deciding to get some food.

"Want to head up to Martin? We haven't eaten there in a while," Kirito suggested.

The girl looked at the Black Knight and smiled, making a noise that sounded like 'Uh-huh.' They were just about to reach the center of town when three blue lights appeared in front of them. The new noise she made sounded more like, 'uh-uh,' and she tugged on Kirito's sleeve, going to try and make a break for it.

"Asuna-sama!" three voices rang out at the same time and she froze, accepting defeat.

Kirito felt a sweat droplet slide down his face as he watched the three men run towards the two of them. They were all wearing the white KoBO uniforms and he could guess why they were here. "Uhh," he started but they completely ignored him and looked straight at the girl he was with.

"Where have you been?!" one asked in a tone that Kirito thought he shouldn't be using towards his superior officer. "Heathcliff has been asking for you, you've been gone for three days!"

"I know," she said with a frown and was about to explain when one of the other men continued where his comrade left off.

"We need to report this right away, your squad members got in trouble when they returned without you." Asuna suddenly forgot trying to give an explanation and felt guilty for not reporting in to her leader sooner.

"I got sick," she muttered and then turned away from her confused men to look at Kirito. "We're going to have to put that meal on hold, ok?" she asked in a worried tone. She thought he would be upset but he understood why she had to leave and nodded before turning and walking down the closest alleyway. "Let's go," she said back to her men once Kirito was gone.

"Who was that?" one of them asked as he looked in the direction the boy headed.

"You didn't recognize him?" one of the others questioned as they all walked back to the square. "That was the Black Knight, Kirito."

"Really?" the first man thought about the times he'd seen the kid with a furious expression on his face, ripping apart giant floor bosses. The smiling boy he'd just seen looked so different, "I didn't recognize him."

"Teleport: Granzam," the men looked forwards to see their second-in-command was leaving without them and they hurried to catch up with her.

Asuna appeared on the fifty-fifth floor and fast walked all the way to the castle, storming in and heading for the stairs. She went up all the way to Heathcliff's office and stepped into the leader's room where he was sitting behind a desk. The man looked up and saw Asuna with an angry look on her face.

Behind the man were windows covering most of the wall and he stood up from his chair, walking over to one of the windows and looking out over the city. "Where were you?" he stated in a calm voice.

"My hunting party," she spurted out, "what was their punishment?"

"Where were you?" he asked again.

"I got sick," she replied and then asked her original question again.

"You've been sick this whole time?" the leader asked and finally Asuna snapped, shouting her original question. Heathcliff sighed and looked at a bird fly past the window, "They were dealt with accordingly to their crime. They allowed you to leave unattended, breaking a rule that we've had in place for many months."

"That wasn't their fault, I was..."

"I know," the man stated and turned, looking Asuna dead in the eyes. "It was your fault." She froze mid-sentence as the man walked away from the wall and towards the center of the room where she was standing. "The _lashings,_" he started and Asuna winced, putting a hand in front of her mouth, "weren't meant to be a lesson for them. They were meant for you, so that you would finally come to understand your place as second-in-command. I trust you will take better care to keep a bodyguard with you and check in next time, won't you?" The man continued to look down into the girl's eyes before she grabbed her left shoulder with her right hand and looked down at the floor.

"I understand," she said. _They were punished because of my mistake, damn it Heathcliff. It was only a few days,_ "I'll be on my way." She pulled open her menu and contacted Kuradeel and the new replacement for Thomas, whose appointment she'd been informed of right after the LC raid, named Jinto. She had yet to contact him; this was the first time the man would be working as her bodyguard, but she wanted the leader to see she was ready to take responsibility.

"Good," the man turned around, "you're dismissed." The girl left the room and walked into the stairwell.

She was about halfway down the stairs when she stopped and sat down on the current step. _Why? I know I have responsibilities to the guild, so why does it feel so wrong? _The girl wiped the tears off her face, knowing that her bodyguards were waiting in front of the castle. _Kirito, we need to finish this game. I don't know how much more I can take._

**A/N So a lot of fluff I guess in this chapter :). Hope you all enjoyed and leave a review telling me what you think. I'm actually going to be gone for about a week on a college visit, but I'll start up writing the next chapter when I'm back. Until then Asuna will have to just stay sad, ;(.**

PsychoSphinx

I wonder how Asuna will react to that message... Anyways, another great chapter! Keep it up!

**She reacted like a concerned friend should. Or someone who's more than a friend ;)**

Delta Marauder

Nice battle scene, very descriptive, and exciting. Also what's happening to Kirito? Because I doubt it he is going into a second coma. Anyways awesome chapter. keep up the fantastic work, and update soon.

**Achoo! He caught a cold haha. Thanks for the great review. That would be cool, SAO inception. A coma inside a coma :P**

jomama25

great chapter, just wondering what level kirito is at this point. keep up the good work

**Thank you. I'd say around 102, 103 maybe. **

Kirinthor

Great stuff. Am very curious as to whats happening to kirito. Keep it up

**Hope you enjoyed his nightmare.**

mailbox killer

Great chapter , thanks for the update

**And thank you for the review.**

Starfoam

did you just... oh my god did you or did you not just make a shadow of israphel reference?

**Hahaha! To tell you the truth, I was thinking about that while I wrote the chapter. I went back and read through it and I couldn't figure out where you were talking about though. What part reminded you of it?**

Heavenian

This sincerely need a lot more reviews, it's amazing.

**Well I'm glad they have been picking up so thank you for contributing! Until next time on SAOE, bye!**


	14. Chapter 14

**September 2, 2024.**

"Hey Asuna," Lizbeth started. The two girls were eating lunch near Liz's home after her best friend dropped in on her unexpectedly. Asuna didn't always get a lot of time away from the front lines, so when she did it was drop-everything-and-hangout time for Liz. "Have you heard about the hot springs on floor sixty six?"

The orange haired girl put down her sandwich and frowned, "No," she stated. She wasn't saying no that she hadn't heard of them, but no to the following question. Asuna held up a hand before her friend could argue that she hadn't asked anything yet. "It's not in a safe zone, and we have to take off all our armor to go in. It's not worth the risk."

"Come _onnnn_," Liz whined. The pink haired girl had been waiting for an opportunity to go up there, "You're strong enough to take down any monsters that try to enter the hot springs while we're in there."

"That's not the problem," Asuna said with a sigh. She put her elbow on the table and rested her right cheek on her hand. "It's not that I don't want to go," the second-in-command of the KoBO muttered, "but if something gets in and I take too long to equip my sword, I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."

Liz frowned and crossed her arms. She wanted to say she was an expert mace user, but sixty six was a floor even she had never dared to go to. There were fewer and fewer front-liners every day and the top floors were known to be beyond deadly.

The pink haired girl with freckles on her face suddenly had an idea and smirked. She leaned in and whispered into Asuna's ear and the orange haired girl lowered her jaw for a few seconds before closing it again. Her face was a little red, so was Liz's, but now both girls were smirking and Asuna said, "Sounds like we're going to floor sixty six."

"Do you want to call him or should I?" Liz asked.

"I'll do it," Asuna grumbled, not too thrilled by the idea. Still, the promise of a day at the hot springs was worth asking for his help. _But if he tries peeping, ohh I'm gonna shove my foot so far up his butt he'll fly all the way to the sixty seventh floor!_

**FLOOR 66**

"So why did you need me to come again?" Kirito mumbled as he walked in between the girls on their way out of the warp city. He'd been called out of a dungeon for Asuna's "urgent" task.

"It's very important," Liz said in a grim tone and kept staring ahead with a straight face. She was giggling mentally, but her face was solid as a rock, no emotion shown.

"Without you, there would be no possible way for the mission to succeed," Asuna agreed with a nod.

Now Kirito was getting intrigued and he tried pressing the issue, but their answers were continually vague. _I don't know what they're trying to do, but it sounds big. _The boy in the Blackwyrm Coat became serious and lifted his right hand, holding it on the hilt of his blade over his shoulder.

This one motion made the two girls with him almost lose their facade and start cracking up, but they managed to stay stoic for a few more minutes. Finally their reason for coming was in sight and the girls almost shrieked in excitement when they saw it. The end of the trail they were walking down was before them, and Kirito was staring at it blankly, his hand dropping from the hilt of his weapon. "Uhh," he started and looked to his left and right where the girls next to him were smiling madly, "is that a hot springs?"

The trail in front of them ended with a rice-paper wall extending out from one side of the forest on the trail to the other. Behind it, the steam was visible and there was a rock wall behind the open-air hot springs where a waterfall was dropping down into the springs. "Alright Kirito, here's the deal," Liz turned to the sixteen year old boy and gave him her best puppy dog eyes while she held her hands together. "We've both been working really hard lately, and not to interrupt you from your nap, but we need a guard while we use the hot springs."

_If only I was taking a nap,_ the boy yawned at the thought of it and then snapped back to the issue at hand. "You said this was _urgent_," he turned to Asuna with a sharp stare.

She stared right back at him and his look faltered when she got up in his face, "It _is_ urgent," Asuna replied. "I don't know where you were in the last boss room fight, but that, and the constant training on the front lines with the Knights of the Blood Oath has me wiped out. If everyone is going to get out of this game okay, then I need to be at my best during the next boss raid. People on the lower floors are relying on..."

"Sheesh, I get it already," Kirito said to stop her rant and lifted up his hands in defeat. "You need a break, sure, but... Why did you need me here?"

"As our bodyguard," Liz said with a small smile. "That hot springs isn't in a safe zone, so you'll have to stop any mobs from getting in the doors while we're in there. I'm not used to having someone guarding me, but Asuna here shouldn't have a problem..."

The orange haired girl elbowed her friend who oofed at the hard hit. Asuna growled, _You don't know the half of it... but I'll tell you once we're in there._ "Anyway Kirito," the girl said and turned from him. She started walking towards the hot springs, "Just keep guard, and no peeking."

Kirito had a witty retort to make, but Asuna's last phrase caught him off guard and his cheeks flushed red. Liz giggled and gave him a small wave before spinning and chasing after her friend.

"You think he'll stay there?" Liz asked once the two of them were in the door.

"Definitely," Asuna stated. _Kirito might be lazy at times, but he wouldn't just leave us here in an unsafe area... right?_ She looked back at the thin white walls but she couldn't see anything outside of them.

"Asuna," the pink haired girl whispered and tugged on her friend's white sleeve. Asuna turned around to see what her friend was looking at and they both gasped, "Wow," they said for three full seconds while they took in their surroundings. "I wonder if anyone else has ever used these," Liz said while they looked around at the large hot springs. There was a huge pool in the middle with steam coming out of it, but a few smaller hot tubs around the sides that looked a lot hotter. The small area in the back near the wall didn't look like it was very hot since it wasn't steaming, and the waterfall from up the cliff was falling into it.

The KoBO officer shook her head, "I doubt it. I've heard about this place, but no one I talked to ever risked taking off all their gear out in the wilderness."

"Like this?" Liz asked and Asuna pried her eyes away from the amazing scenery to her friend. Liz had her hand out in front of her and was clicking a bunch of buttons on the screen that appeared. First her cloak came off, her weapon was put away, and then her underwear followed.

"Your turn," Liz said as she ran off towards the waterfall pool. "Geronimo!" she yelled and cannonballed into the pool.

_Well, here goes,_ Asuna smiled and started to undress as well. When she was almost finished, she looked back at the walls and above them to see if anyone, Kirito, was looking over. _Stop worrying, I'm sure he's just sitting there bored._ With that, the girl turned and removed her underwear, dipping slowly into the large pool with steam coming off of it. "Ahhh," she couldn't help but release a soothing breath of air as soon as the perfect temperature water touched her.

**Outside the Hot Springs**

Kirito was about to sit down in front of the door when he heard rustling in the trees on either side of him. A notice appeared in the middle of the path they just walked down and the wind was blowing faster than before. The boy in the black cloak read the words in the air fast and his eyes widened. _'Hot Springs Trap initiated- Wave 1/5 begin' this is bad!_

The boy rose his sword and held it in his right hand at his waist level. _Should I call Asuna? No, she said she needed this break. We're five floors down, I should be able to handle this!_ He watched as two Devil Dwarves with red faces came out of either side of the forests and started converging on him. Besides the four coming in from the sides, five Ripjaw Mutts were coming down the path fast with the Ripjaw Trainer running behind them holding his whip.

The dogs got to him first and he jumped, easily dodging the mutts who were carried by their momentum and sprinted past him. As he landed on the other side of them, he slashed his sword and parried the whip coming at him. He twisted his sword off the parry and cut across the trainer's chest, then back across his stomach in a twirl that hit two of the dogs leaping at him from behind.

His sensors went off like crazy and he bent back, just as an ax flew past where his chest was a second before. Kirito turned and saw the Devil Drawves on his right side coming at him and the second one threw his throwing-ax. The box smacked the ax away with his sword and jumped to the right to avoid three of the remaining mutts. He felt a whip hit his back and he winced in pain, remembering the trainer still wasn't dead.

"Ackrack grawc," the Ripjaw Trainer laughed in some foreign tongue that Akihiko Kayaba probably didn't even bother to translate himself. Kirito sprinted forward with a sword skill readied and slammed into the Devil Dwarf closest to him. He cut its head off with the powerful attack and then spun, slamming the other in the pair with one of the two dogs coming at him. While the first of the dogs hit the dwarf and fell, Kirito focused on the second one, sliding underneath it as it pounced and cutting it from neck to its feet.

His sensors flared again and this time he didn't have to turn to know another ax was coming at him. He twirled his weapon with a small dip of his head and redirected the ax back into the trainer who was about to crack his whip again. The ax stuck in the trainers face and Kirito was too busy cutting up the last two dogs to notice the trainer explode. With that he only had the three dwarves to take care of and without the dogs constantly jumping at him, they were a piece of cake to destroy.

He was panting pretty hard after that but he didn't slide his sword back in his sheath. _Health bar is only down a little, and if the break between waves is at least twenty seconds, I should have it all back._ The boy's thoughts were interrupted and he felt chills run down his spine. Far down the path between the two forests, there was a lone figure watching the battle.

The man was in full body armor, looking like how the Divine Dragons dressed, except instead of silver the armor was black. His head was covered by a helmet and there was darkness visible inside the helmet, leaking out a little into the air around him. He was sitting atop a horse, although Kirito could tell from this distance that the horse was no ordinary horse: its bones were showing on its legs and it had rotten flesh around its lower torso and face, looking a lot like a zombie of some sort.

_Guess he's the boss,_ Kirito wondered as his health hit full and he awaited Wave 2/5. He looked closer and saw a name next to his opponent, telling him what the mob's label was. Instantly the boy's face hardened, "The Black Knight," he muttered in anger. The boy scowled at his enemy, "There can only be one."

In a deep menacing tone, his foe down the path spoke and his voice carried down to surround the boy facing him. **"You may have defeated the first wave, **_**boy,**_**"** Kirito frowned deeper at the man's insulting tone towards him. He didn't even care that the person was actually an NPC enemy triggered by the hot springs, the guy pissed him off as much as some red guild members he'd run into. **"But let's see how you fare against more of my dark army!"**

The horse in the distance reared up and the trees started to rustle again. A large notice appeared in the sky telling Kirito to get ready for Wave 2 and the kid readied his weapon. _This is going to be a long afternoon..._

**Back inside the Hot Springs.**

"You mean he followed you to the restaurant?" Liz asked in surprise.

"I didn't say that," Asuna countered quickly. She didn't know what to think of it, "All I know is that I was on the fortieth floor eating lunch by myself, when he just happened to walk in the door. If he wasn't already following me around half the time anyway I wouldn't suspect anything, but Kuradeel almost always seems to find me when I don't want to be found."

"So ditch him," Liz said and leaned back in the hot pool they were in. It was just deep enough for them to stand at about chest height, and they were wading around the stone hot spring in the virtual water that felt so very real. "If he's really bothering you that much, why haven't you ordered him to stop?"

Asuna frowned and looked up. She had her arms out to either side on the ledge of the pool and she sighed. Everything was always rushing about around her, so she never had a good time to sit down and think clearly about her situation. Her friend continued, "Everyone knows you're one of the strongest players in the game. You shouldn't need someone walking two steps behind you ever second of the day. What if he's been watching your house?"

"Now that would be seriously weird," Asuna said with a small shiver. It wasn't from the hot water, but from the idea of the man following her home. "But that's not happening, he's just really enthusiastic about his job. Besides, I can't ditch him after he saved me a few months ago..."

"Asuna," her friend said sternly, startling the relaxed girl. Asuna shut up and turned to her friend who was staring at her in the eyes. "If every person you've saved in a dungeon or during a boss raid thought they owed you a debt, then you'd have a personal army following you around right now. Don't think that you're obligated to stay with him just because he saved you once," the pink haired girl had heard all types of amazing stories about her friend, and she didn't like to see her upset like this.

"Maybe you're right," Asuna said and leaned back, letting her orange hair sink farther into the water. "But for now I'll let him stay as my bodyguard. I don't want Heathcliff punishing him if I order him away, so I'll have to talk to the leader myself before I do anything."

The girls sat there for a little longer until Lizbeth suggested trying one of the hotter tubs of water. They walked over and tried one and their thoughts that the earlier pool's water was perfection disintegrated. "Now this," Liz said as she sank deeper and deeper until her mouth was just above the water, "is the life."

"We should let Kirito-kun have a turn in here when we're done," Asuna mumbled as she felt the hot water all around her. It felt so good that she couldn't hide it from the boy who came all the way out here with them. "I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

Liz smirked and said in a teasing tone, "I'm sure he'll appreciate it more if you go in with him."

Asuna's face turned bright red and she snapped her head angrily towards Liz, but the pink haired girl disappeared under the surface. She could tell where her friend went though from the bubbles appearing on the water's surface. Liz couldn't hold in her laughter after seeing Asuna's reaction and she had to come back up for air after a few seconds of underwater laughing.

As soon as Liz emerged, Asuna splashed a huge amount of water at the girl and Liz shielded her face from the hot water. "Oh you're gonna get it!" The pink haired girl yelled and reached down to splash back, but was hit by a large amount of water before she could do so. The orange haired girl was relentless, splashing over and over at her friend who spat it out and shielded her eyes from the onslaught. "Alright alright, I give up," Liz said and turned away from her friend, clinging onto the side for a breather.

Asuna stopped splashing and grinned at a battle well fought, and won. Suddenly she thought she heard something behind her and snapped her head around. _Weird, _she looked over at the thin walls and called out, "You better not be peeking over there!" She received no response and couldn't tell whether that was good or bad.

_I've got you now,_ Liz shoved both of her hands in the water and the other girl heard the noise and started turning her head back around. Her face turned completely, right as the water from Lizbeth's splash hit her and she swallowed a huge amount. "Hahaha!" the blacksmith laughed and splashed again, her friend having recovered fast and going at it as well.

**Back outside...**

Kirito was panting heavily, his breaths coming out staggered as he stared at the final monster in the wave. _Soul Reaper, that's a new one,_ he stared at the figure in the raggedy black cloak with a hood over his face and a scythe in its hands. Its hands were boney and when the creature finally attacked to avenge its subordinates, Kirito saw its face was made entirely of bone as well.

The Black Knight was watching atop his horse down the path a ways. He was closer than at the end of the first wave, and Kirito guessed once the third was over he'd be moving up again. _Maybe if I beat him,_ the boy thought as he parried a blow from the scythe, _I can just skip the next waves entirely._ The boy slashed across the monster's face and flipped backwards to avoid the next attack, but the skeletal creature was deceiving him and pulled a dagger from his cloak with its free hand.

Kirito felt the slash on his left side and fell to the right, skidding across the floor. His health dropped from low green into the yellow. The boy tssked with his mouth and pushed himself to his feet, "Why don't you and your dark army..." the boy shouted and ran forward, cutting the Soul Reaper back and forth while dodging every attack the skeleton threw at him with its scythe and dagger, "just get back in the ground!" Kirito jumped and brought down his Elucidator, snapping the scythe in half and continuing the blow down into the skeleton's head.

**"How dare you defeat one of my Lieutenants?!"** The Black Knight roared and his horse raced forwards. **"The other three will defeat you with ease!"** The forests on either side started rustling and it hadn't even been a full ten seconds when he started to see the next wave appear and the notice showed in front of his face.

_The waves are getting closer together. I have to expect that at the end of the fourth, the fifth will start immediately. That's when I'll have to fight him,_ the boy used a potion while his enemies were approaching on all sides except for one. He had his back to the hot springs and rose his weapon in a defensive stance. _I won't let you get to them! This is a battle between the Black Knights! _He was really pissed this mob had the same name that the rest of the world designated for him, especially because the mob was so powerful and annoying.

The kid smashed the three arrows coming at him in one strike and the three cracked bolts shattered in midair into a bunch of blue crystals. "Come get it!" the boy yelled and his sword started to glow as he raced forward to meet his enemies head on.

So far in the fights, not a single enemy had attempted to go past him at the hot springs. They were focused on fighting him first, and he figured once he was beaten they would go past and attack the springs. For this exact reason, Kirito didn't notice the Orc Spy sneak around the forces on the left while Kirito was fighting the ones on the right. He didn't see it use a knife to cut through the rice paper like butter, and he didn't see it slip inside the hot springs.

Kirito defeated the scouts of wave 4 and eliminated the archers targeting him by flanking behind. He had to take down a troll three times his height before the Lieutenants that the Black Knight mentioned finally bore down on him. They didn't come one at a time, they all charged in at once.

One was a red cloaked mage on top of an oversized alligator. He held a wooden staff with a weird knobby end that glowed as the man shouted out in ancient unknown languages. The other two were knights wearing blue and green armor, both holding long broadswords above their heads as they charged on either side of the alligator.

_This is going to be difficult, I might have to switch to dual wield if the next wave is this hard._ The boy readied himself, still just barely in the green, and he started fighting the three enemies.

**Inside the hot springs.**

"I thought Schmitt was going to replace Lind as one of the top three officers," Liz stated as the two girls floated around back in the pool with the waterfall. It was the coldest of the pools, but it felt good to sit under the falls and let the cool water fall down on their heads.

Asuna shook her head, "I thought so as well. During the LC raid, he saved Xavier from one of their officers, Terminus. But instead," the girl frowned, "Will chose Tamu to take her spot. I despise that man," she mentioned, in case her tone didn't already give it away.

"He's pretty creepy," Liz agreed with a small nod. The two girls hadn't talked for this long in a while, and the water falling down on their heads felt great. "The last time I saw him, Henry was kicking him out of the shop for hitting on me. Like that was ever going to work out," the two girls laughed and then Asuna froze.

_There's definitely someone else in here,_ she thought to herself and slowly turned her head to the right. She was concealed inside the falling water of the waterfall, but the fact that her sensors were going off like crazy meant someone was hiding and didn't want to be seen. _Liz doesn't notice it yet, and my detection skill is just high enough that I noticed when they were only twenty feet away. This person could have probably snuck all the way up to her and killed her before Liz sensed a thing._

Asuna slowly lifted her hand and pretended to wash her hair draping over her right shoulder and over her right breast. Liz started talking to her again about something, probably trivial, she didn't know. What she did know was that whoever was in hiding was moving closer again. That was why while pretending to wash her hair, she was actually sliding through her inventory. _Armor or weapon? Armor or weapon?_ She knew the second she equipped one, whatever was hiding would attack her. _Has to be weapon, I need to protect Liz._

The Lightning Flash pressed the button and her senses flared. She knew it was approaching quickly, and she slashed the sword that appeared in her hand as fast as she could. Her rapier slammed into a sword coming at her on the right and Liz screamed. The pink haired girl was so shocked, she fell off the ledge they were sitting on and into the pool below the waterfall.

The Orc Spy stopped cloaking itself seeing as it didn't work, and Asuna saw the thin blade the monster was using. "Damn it Kirito," the girl growled angrily. _He had one job! What is he doing, taking a nap?!_ With rage directed at Kirito, the girl smashed the Orc too fast for him to follow and she hit it with a combo to knock it back into the water where it shattered into a hundred blue shards.

She didn't waste a single second to stare at the monster. Asuna saw Liz was alright, and she instantly stormed off towards the front of the hot springs where the paper wall was standing. There was a hole cut in the wall and the girl became even more furious, _How could he not see that?!_ She was enraged and almost forgot to equip her clothing before running out there.

Right as the orange haired girl pressed the button to put her underwear back on, she heard a loud crash and her eyes widened. In front of her, the walls were ripped through and torn down, with Kirito lying on top of the rubble. His health was in the mid-yellow and he was struggling to get back up. "K-Kirito?" the girl muttered and the boy looked up at her.

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds in the eyes, and then Kirito quickly lifted his left hand and covered his eyes. Asuna looked down and saw her pale colored bra and panties were the only things covering her soaked body. Her face turned red and she screamed, "KIRITO!" she was seriously pissed off. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!" She was about to yell about him dozing off and then trying to peep on her, when the yellow health bar flashed again in her mind.

"Sorry, one second," Kirito said between deep breaths as he pushed himself up and lifted his blade. Right as his blade lifted, a small black creature about a foot tall with glowing white eyes flew into the hole in the wall. It had small hands and feet with sharp claws on it and an open mouth glowing red with tons of sharp teeth as well. The boy was panting hard, but he still managed to lift his blade at incredible speeds and slice the creature in half.

Kirito marched back out of the hot springs and Asuna walked behind him in a daze as she watched him take out five, six more of those small black creatures as he sprinted forward. The man he was charging at was riding an undead horse, and he had his arms raised causing darkness filled black circles to appear around him where the creatures were coming out of.

The boy wearing the black cloak charged at the knight on the horse and allowed himself to get hit by two of the smaller creatures so that he could slice the legs of the zombie horse. No one was expecting him to sacrifice more health to knock the knight off his horse, so The Black Knight fell to the side, dropping his hands and causing the small black minions to collapse into dark mush... and then blue crystals.

**"You dare knock me off my steed,"** the knight growled and lifted the horse off of him. He tossed it to the side and it exploded into computer fragments. Asuna was scared of the man in black armor and his voice as he marched forward and drew a huge sword from his waist. It was as tall as he was, but the man didn't have any trouble wielding it and slammed it down towards Kirito.

The boy dodged by rolling to the right, but the heavy-looking weapon seemed to weigh nothing to the huge armored knight who lifted the weapon again and slashed across the ground, leaving a small trench in the dirt towards Kirito. Asuna started looking around and saw axes, swords, and staffs lying all over the place. _What the Hell is going on out here?_

"Asuna," Liz whispered as she walked out of the hot springs behind her friend. The orange haired girl turned around and saw Liz was wearing her normal gear, which triggered something in her own mind reminding her to put on the rest of her clothes. "Help Kirito," the pink haired girl begged, "please Asuna!"

Asuna's white and red cloak appeared over her and the girl lifted her rapier high. "Kirito, switch!" she yelled and started running forward.

"No!" the boy yelled back and rose his sword, blocking a heavy blow that looked like it was going to smash straight through his weapon. _I was going to use dual wield for you, but now the girls are here and I'd rather not let them see it. _"I am the Black Knight Kirito, right?!" he called over to them.

The girls never heard him refer to himself as that before and they nodded slowly. "Well this guy," Kirito shouted and pushed back as hard as he could, knocking back his enemy and leaving a spot open for him to attack. "Has the nerve," the boy continued as he comboed his attack and lifted his weapon across the man's back causing the mob to roar and slash behind him. Kirito jumped over the blade and flipped in midair, "To call himself," the boy kept talking while he crossed his blade over the enemy's and sparks flew as he dragged it towards the man's hand and sliced off fingers. "The Black Knight!"

The two girls sweatdropped and Asuna saw the monster swipe and hit her friend with another attack, bringing him down to the red. "I don't care!" The girl shouted and charged forward.

"This is a fight between men!" Kirito yelled.

"He's an NPC!" she yelled back with a tick mark on her head as she charged. She heard the monster talk, which meant he was at least a little more than the average mob, especially since he had his own name.

"And I just happened to be fighting him?!" Kirito shouted and the girl stopped in her tracks. "No one has ever heard of this guy before, so why did I, the Black Knight, run into him?!" Both Liz and Asuna were speechless. Kirito kept shouting as he dragged his own sword across the ground and charged his enemy as they were both low on health. "I think Kayaba is messing with me! And I!" he lifted his weapon and smashed it against his opponent's knocking it away, "Don't!" the boy slashed his foe's knees and then across the stomach and the chest, "LIKE IT!" he yelled and slashed one final time across his opponent's neck. He knew never to shove his weapon straight into his foe, in case it wasn't strong enough and he had to make another quick slash, but the slash he used was enough and The Black Knight's health dropped down to zero.

**"I can't, believe it," **the knight stumbled backwards a few feet and fell to his knees. **"The Black Knight, defeated by a mere mortal."** It exploded into fragments and they rained down over his enemy.

"No," Kirito slashed his sword to the right, the left, and then up over his shoulder into his sheath. "I'm still alive," the boy looked up at the sky. _What do you want from me? Why did I get the dual wield ability? What is your plan, Akihiko Kayaba?_

"Hey Kirito," Asuna started marching forward and the boy in front of her turned around meeting the gaze of a very angry girl. "Why didn't you call for me?" she said with her hands on her hips.

"I could handle it," he replied arrogantly and turned away. "We're only on floor sixty six," _though most of those monsters were at least level sixty nine worthy, not to mention the Lieutenants, or Mr. Fakeypants._

"You could handle it?" Asuna said in a dark tone, glaring at him through shadowed eyes. The boy gulped and stopped smiling from the nickname he gave The Black Knight. "Then why was there an Orc Spy sneaking up on us inside the hot springs?! A few more steps and it could have gotten us!"

Kirito's demeanor instantly changed and Liz was already walking out towards him. The girls stopped for a second as a notification appeared above Kirito's head. "Wave 5/5 completed," Asuna and Liz read out at the same time.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "You said you needed a break, and I figured if... I thought..." _stop making excuses! They could have died!_ Kirito's face became dark and the boy was sweating even more than directly following the duel with his arch enemy.

"A break wasn't worth risking our lives for..." Asuna began.

"Were you fighting, the entire time?" Liz asked, interrupting her friend. "We were in there for well over an hour, but you didn't call for help once." Asuna heard what she said and stared at the boy for some sort of response, but he just nodded. "You could've just died..."

"Everyone needs a break once in a while," he muttered and turned around so he was facing the path. _Asuna can watch Liz on the way back._

Asuna was about to retort something along the lines of, 'I've seen you napping out in the open all the time!' or 'I don't even want to hear you talking about breaks!' but the boy lifted up a blue crystal and called out, "Algade." Then he was gone.

"Oh I'm going to kill him," Asuna was so tense she just wanted to punch something.

"Why?" Liz asked and got very close to her friend's face with her own, making Asuna a little uncomfortable. "The way I see it, he just risked his butt to give us a good time. And I don't know about you, but I had a great time in the hot springs." Asuna softened a little, also having had a great time in the springs. "What was that you said earlier about us watching while he went in later? You were the one who suggested it, or did you decide to forget now that enemies might actually spawn while he's in there?!"

Liz sounded pretty mad, but she was right to. The way she saw it, Asuna was easily able to defeat the one enemy that got by. Neither of them were hurt at all, and meanwhile, Kirito was fighting who knows how many enemies so protect them. "And then you blamed him for it and said we could've gotten killed! Do you know how that made him feel?" Asuna's eyes opened wide as she knew exactly how that would make him feel. She spent six months wincing every time she saw the look in Kirito's eyes after his guild was slaughtered. Liz continued, "He once told me he'd much rather die with someone, then watch that person die before his eyes. I know that the only thing he's thinking about right now, is what would've happened if he heard cannons and looked up to see our faces while he was fighting!"

"Kirito," the other girl whispered.

"Now you need to go to Algade," Liz demanded, "and apologize to him right now. Take back what you said, or at least word it differently!" Liz shouted, seeing her friend about to argue again. Asuna still thought Kirito should have just called for them in the first place, but she felt guilty about the way he ran off like that.

Asuna sighed, "Alright, but first we're heading back to town. I'm not leaving you out here alone," this time Liz didn't cut her off and the pink haired girl nodded sheepishly before jogging down the path.

**Floor 50**

When Asuna arrived in Algade, her first thought was to run straight towards Kirito's inn. She took a step though, and her detection skills picked up on a conversation someone was having next to the warp point. "...appeared right there, and then poof! He just teleported right away!"

"This boy you're talking about," Asuna started as she walked up to the pair of men. Both men recognized her instantly and their eyes went wide at the celebrity talking to them. "Was he wearing all black?" The two guys nodded quickly. "Good, did you hear where he was going?"

"Yeah," one of the men said and told her the location.

Her heart jumped and she thanked the men for their help before stepping back to the teleporter she arrived at in Algade. "Teleport: Taft!" She yelled and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The minute she arrived, she started walking towards the old inn that she followed Kirito to once. Floor eleven was a quaint place: not many people and a nice atmosphere. It was still daylight, which meant she didn't have to sneak around and just jogged quickly to the inn with the tree in front of it.

Asuna glanced down at the rock beneath the tree and read the names inscribed on it. _Keita, Sasamaru, Ducker, Tetsuo... Sachi. _She thought he might be there, standing over the rock, but he wasn't and she headed inside. Inside the building it only took a hundred Col to bribe the innkeeper and she learned where Kirito was.

"He's back in his old room," the man said and grinned at the young girl in front of him. "Give me an extra hundred..." she drowned out the sound of the NPC and started walking upstairs.

_How much time did he spend here?_ She thought as she reached his room and stared at the cracked open door. Asuna pushed the door open and saw Kirito lying down on a bed in the room, facing the opposite wall with his arms out in front of him, hugging a pillow. "Kiri..."

The boy shot up fast and reached for his sword before the sound of the voice registered and he recognized who it was. "Oh," he mumbled and turned so he was sitting on the edge of the bed facing her. _Come to yell some more I'm guessing, _"Wait, how did you find me?"

Asuna's face turned bright red. This wasn't where she was expecting this conversation to go. She just came to apologize for snapping at him, and to thank him for coming out there with them today. "Remember that fake murder case we solved?" she asked and twiddled her fingers as his eyes opened wide, "I may have, followed you that night."

"That was you?!" he exclaimed with huge eyes. He shot out of bed and asked, "D-Did you hear anything?"

"Everything," she responded quickly, not wanting to drag it out for very long.

"Oh," he said, sitting back a little as he realized some of his secrets weren't so secret anymore.

"You were hugging that pillow pretty tight," Asuna said with a small smile, "thinking of anyone special?" She was trying to change the subject from her creepily following him to, pretty much anything else.

Kirito's face turned red and he muttered, "Sachi," the boy turned away. A small smile appeared on his face as he remembered her recording on Christmas and he wasn't too sad anymore. "She used to come in here every night; she was so afraid she was going to die. So she'd," now it was his turn to be embarrassed, "she would sleep in my bed..."

"What?! Sachi would?" Asuna remembered the girl from the lunch she had with Kirito and his guild. Her eyes narrowed, "You better not have done anything to her," she scolded.

"What?! No!" Kirito held up his hands in defense and didn't want her thinking the wrong thing. "I would just tell her, night after night," he paused and whispered quieter, "'you won't die,' I'd say, 'I'll protect you.'" The two of them stopped talking and the room was silent.

Neither of them knew how long they sat and stood there like that, but then Asuna broke the silence. "Thanks for today," she whispered, looking down to the right with a light shade of red in her cheeks. "We really, _I_ really appreciated it. Really."

"Yes, you've said 'really' a few times now," the boy said with a grin. Asuna's flustered look turned angry again. He just had to make her gratitude into a joke didn't he?! _Last time I thank him for anything!_ She thought angrily. "But you're welcome," Kirito continued and Asuna forgot about her misplaced anger. "I'm glad I was able to give you two some time off."

"Mmm," Asuna mumbled, wishing her vacation was more than just half a day. _I've spent almost two years now inside this world, I deserve a break once in a while. But I know if I don't check in soon, Kuradeel will come looking for me._ "Well, I'll see you later Kirito," she said to the boy on the bed. The two of them didn't see each other too often nowadays. Recently they only saw each other during floor boss battles, and even then it wasn't like the two of them were talking for very long like this. "It was, nice talking, to you," the girl whispered and then turned, walking out of the room.

Kirito watched her leave and then fell back on the bed he was lying on. He continued to rent this room from the day his guild died until now, and even a year's worth of regret couldn't make him forgive himself for that day. A blurry face came into his vision and he clenched his eyes shut. It was a face with a black cloak around it, but he didn't want to remember that, he didn't want to remember anything about the Laughing Coffin raid. He wanted to keep his friends in his memory for as long as he could, but those men he killed, he just wanted to forget about them.

To get his mind off of any bad thoughts he might have, the kid started thinking about the day he had. He still had a half-finished quest he could go complete on the seventy-first floor, but he wasn't in the mood after already leveling up today. _I wonder if Asuna is a higher level than me. She's right, I have been slacking off a little lately. It's probably because I don't have a guild pushing me forward with them. _He shook his head, _I can't join a guild, I like being a solo player, they'll only slow me down._ He convinced himself it was better to just stay the way he'd been doing things, and with that he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

**Floor 60**

Lava boiled and bubbled all over the small rock island. There was a small house, more like a shack, sitting atop the island. It looked to be deserted, but that was what the inhabitants were going for.

One man was carefully hopping along the rock path that only the people who had been to the house before knew to take. There were a lot of unsturdy rocks on the trail, but as long as you knew which ones to step on, it wasn't a hard journey

Kuradeel finally stepped off the last rock and onto the island. He was wearing his Knights of the Blood Oath white and red cloak, but he was far from any members of his own guild. The man with gray hair walked up to the door and let himself in. No one inside reacted much to his entrance and barely gave him a sideways glance upon his entry to the room. He looked around and grimaced; the once enormous and powerful red guild had been reduced to this: six men in a shack on an abandoned island.

The guild had started recruiting again, but the idea of joining a red guild wasn't thrilling to many orange players. They'd heard what happened to Poison Apples and Death's Grace, and read all about the slaughter of Laughing Coffin. They'd only received one new member since their guild was annihilated, a young kid named Drexel. The only positive about the whole situation, was that their leader survived the attack.

PoH was sitting on a chair in the back of the room, the only member there with his hood covering his face. The others were too hot to keep on the extra clothes and were dressed far more casually.

One man, Tyrone, was leaning back against the table in the center of the room. He was throwing a ball at the wall and bouncing it back to himself, but when Kuradeel came in the room he caught it and stopped. "Oh, it's you," he stated. The large black man rose to full height and looked over to the door where Kuradeel walked in and closed it behind him. "Any news?"

"The seventy second floor is going to be cleared on Friday," Kuradeel reported to the new second-in-command of their small guild. "The Knights of the Blood Oath are getting larger and stronger every day. What used to be a small but powerful guild is now turning into a very large, and even more powerful guild."

"No matter," a low voice spoke from the back of the room and everyone stopped what they were doing to turn back there. "The front lines are getting smaller every day," PoH stood up and walked forward a little. The man was smiling, stunning Kuradeel by the confidence he had, despite the circumstances surrounding their own guild. "We'll continue to kill them, while staying in the shadows." The others were all grinning now and even Kuradeel, despite his bad mood, couldn't help an evil smirk from coming to his face.

PoH clenched his fist and held it above the table, "When the time is right, we'll kill them all and halt the progress completely. The Strongest Man in the World, the Lightning Flash, Godfree, The Silver Lancer," (the epithet people gave to the leader of the Divine Dragons, Will), "and especially, The Black Knight."

**A/N Hey everyone I'm back! So yeah... in my last author's note I mentioned going on a college visit, and now it's many months later and I'll b heading off to college in a few weeks once work is done. That just shows how long it's been since I've written a chapter of this, but now that I have, I can't stop XD! I got pretty excited by this show again just thinking about it, so I reread my whole story two days ago, then wrote this yesterday and today. I've already started up on the next chapter, and I hope you enjoyed this one. Next time... LC's back baby!**

mailbox killer

Heathcliff is an ass, but great chapter,

**Thanks! Yeah, that guy is pretty strict with his rules, but he's kind of an ass in the first place for trapping a thousand people in this world. Glad you liked it!**

Kayaba Akihiko

Amazing writing! Definitely deserves more attention than its been getting. Please keep up the good work.

**Thank you! Hope I've kept up to your high expectations!**

PsychoSphinx

You should do a chapter showing us how the people in the real world are reacting. I would really like to see how asunas mom would react :)

Anyways, nice chapter yet again.

**Not a bad idea, but we are reaching the end of our journey here in SAO. Thank you for your review and there are only a few months left in the SAO world before this game reaches its demise.****..**

Delta Marauder

The fluff was so cute, then Heathcliff ruined it by making what they did a punishment. Anyways cute chapter, keep up the fantastic work, and update soon.

**As I reread my story two days ago, I felt worst that I stopped updating because of all the reviews you left every chapter. Sorry for taking so long to update, and I hope you can still get back into this story. Thanks for the reviews!**

Kirinthor chapter 13 . Mar 15

Great chapter. Very sweet as well between kirito and asuna, loved it :)

**Yeah I'm really liking the interactions between the two before they actually start dating, or being married, because it shows how much history they had that it really worked out between them. Thank you!**

Guest

This is one of THE best SAO fanfics I've read in a while. The effort you put into this story is astounding. You made all of the characters better than they were in the anime, you actually made them characters, not a rushed mess like in the anime. I just have to say great job, and I hope you update soon. 4112001. :)

**Thanks for the great review. It really did take a lot of work to write those early chapters where I had to watch the show in order to keep clothing and dialogue accurate. Putting in a lot of the missing time that the anime left out was also hard since there wasn't much for me to base my chapters off of besides the SAO timeline on their wiki. Don't know what those numbers mean, but I hope you're still into this story! XD**

SamchowFTW

I love this story it is so well done. hope to see more of your work soon.  
I was thinking maybe you should do a what if they made it past flour 75 all the way to 100.  
that would make my day and year and life.

**Sorry for taking so long, but thanks for saying it was well done. I've already planned to keep this as close to canon as I can (besides the cannons that go off when people die) so it will most definitely end where it's supposed to. Sorry to spoil your life :p.**

RedFox20

This is probably one of the best SAO fics right now. You manage to keep a fine balance between details, character development and story progression, keeping the reader hooked. Spelling is impeccable and character dialogue feels very natural.

I don't know what else to say - just keep doing what you are doing and show us what a real fic should look like. To be honest, this is a very strong contender to SAO: Progressive LN-s, however your writing and dialogue is a lot more interesting.  
Them feels when Klein keeps losing his RL friends one by one to the death game... Really brings out the desperation and creates a genuine atmosphere to the story.

All in all 10/10 - a must read in the SAO category

**This might have been one of the best reviews I've ever received, especially because it actually goes into what is good about it, not just the usual Great Chapter. I do spend a lot of time editing to make sure my spelling and grammar works out well, and I'm very glad you like the characters I've created as well and can make you feel for when Owen and the others get killed ;( (sobs)**

KaptainKaveman

Not gonna lie. First word out of my mouth when i realized that i had read all there was to read, "DICKS!" But only because the story is so damn good! It always bugged me how short the Aincrad arc seemed in SAO. Thank you sir/mam for filling some of the holes with damn good storytelling.

**Yeah, I apologize again for taking so long to update. I know you thought where you finished was the end, but if this is on your follow list and you see the new update, I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter! Thanks for the great review!**

DarkQuacker

I really love how well thought out all your character interactions are while following the cannon basically word for word. I like the imagery/description as well as adding plausibility/questioning to make it seem more like a game with techniques/tricks that can be employed.

However, I most like that your story if much more fleshed out than the actual anime. The time flows well, Kirito's lvl actually makes sense, all in all a fantastic story... if it were completed.

I know you are currently writing a lot about One Piece and other things, but whenever possible please come back and finish this story plox?

TL;DR FINISH THE STORY

**It has been a few months since this review, but it was one that even back when I first saw it, I instantly felt the urge to go back and continue writing. I'm in the middle of multiple crossovers and other One Piece fanfics, but I'm going to take a break from them to continue this for a little while. Thank you for your well thought out review and the second part of what you wrote was what I hoped for when I started writing this. I felt too much time was skipped and we didn't get enough development for all the characters they showed us, and now we do. I'LL TRY TO FINISH THE STORY! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, gave feedback, and will review to this latest chapter! **


	15. Chapter 15

**September 17, 2024.**

"So you're the new recruit huh?" Will asked the young man as he entered his office. The Divine Dragon base on the thirty eighth floor was originally set up as a forward base before the boss raid on this floor, but Will found himself enjoying the happy and docile NPCs in the city enough to make him turn the forward base into a permanent one.

The man in full steel armor was standing in front of the fortress covered in blue dragon banners, looking down the steps at the younger man down below him. The boy at the bottom of the steps had a shaved head, probably trying to make himself look older than he really was. _Probably eighteen or nineteen in the outside world, poor kid got stuck here right in the middle of high school._ "Why do you want to join the Divine Dragons?" Will asked, always the first question he wanted answered by the new recruits.

"To beat this world!" the boy shouted loudly in response. _Well at least he has enthusiasm._ "I want to protect the people in the lower floors who are waiting for us to finish this sick game!"

"Well then," the armored man said, "you've come to the right place."

The bald teenager down below smiled brightly up at the man at the top of the steps. _First step, complete._

Will started descending the steps and put an arm on the shoulder of the boy waiting down below. "Now before I can make you an official member, there's one thing we have to do first." He started walking and the recruit knew to follow along even after the man's arm fell off his shoulder. "We'll be heading up to floor sixty-four," Will stated and the boy looked surprised, and maybe a little nervous. "If you can defeat a few monsters up there while I watch, I'll deem you worthy to join our cause. If you can't," he frowned, "then you can go join the NOPO or something, I won't care."

His friendly demeanor changed fast and this was usually the point in the recruiting process where the weaker players would gulp and start sweating, or back out altogether. He was actually happier when they backed out, because it saved him from wasting a trip to an upper floor for nothing. When he looked at the young man next to him though, he was pleasantly surprised to see the boy didn't look as nervous as he thought he would. _Maybe the kid is pretty strong, I might have just missed him at the boss fights, it's not like I've been to all of them._ Will grinned and when they reached the center of the town he shouted at the warp point, "Teleport: Redford!"

The leader of the Divine Dragons disappeared in a flash of blue light and the bald guy with a straight face smirked, _Step two, complete._ "Teleport: Redford!" He vanished and when he opened his eyes, he was in a much more rundown city than the one they just left. The NPCs here looked nothing like the friendly ones in Porktown, instead it was filled with refugees from destroyed outer villages and bounty hunters looking for help hunting down dangerous criminals.

The two men walked down the Main Street and heard fighting inside one of the many taverns. It was most likely not real players, but NPCs fighting each other, however a lot of players would take advantage of the fact they couldn't die in a safe zone and come for a good fight. Will noticed the shorter bald man following him was looking around at the different buildings around him and pointing at a few things in awe. "First time in Redford Billy?" the leader asked and turned back forward to watch where he was going.

The man who called himself Billy kept his hand up in the air and finally exited out of the message he was secretly typing. "Yes sir," he responded, putting his hand down and stopping his fake awe at the city that he was already familiar with. In fact, he was more surprised this was where Will chose to bring him for the second part of recruitment he learned about from the terrified Divine Dragon member they captured a week before. _First he asks why you're here, then he takes you up for training, then he purposely walks into a dangerous situation to see if you run away or try to help him._

Billy and Will walked out of town and the boy silently followed the leader who talked about some responsibilities he would have if he chose to join them. Billy noticed they strayed from the normal path earlier, and were now heading down a side trail that led to a mini boss at the end of a series of quests. _It's a good thing I've already done this quest and know exactly where he's taking me._

The bald teenager fell behind a little while Will continued to talk and he lifted his arm again. In the middle of their conversation, Will spun around and saw his new recruit scrolling with his finger. The boy's eyes went wide for a second but he played it off by quickly equipping a new sword and saying, "I'm ready for anything."

"You should have equipped that before we even stepped out of the town," Will scolded his new member. "This is a dangerous place we're in, one wrong move and you could die."

"I know," Billy stated and walked in front of the leader, taking the lead and smirking so his guild leader couldn't see his face now. "I've had friends die in here before."

Will frowned deeply as he thought of his old guild leader, Ester, getting killed by the hill boss on the twenty-fifth floor. Lind's face appeared in his mind too and he remembered the terror of the LC raid as his friends and comrades were killed around him. "Haven't we all," the taller man in armor whispered and continued to walk behind the recruit.

Something about the way the man was walking was starting to get to Will and he realized what it was, "Have you been here before?" He questioned and the teenager in front of him nodded.

"Yes sir, I already completed the quest that made me fight this boss on my own," he figured he might get caught if he lied, so it was probably better just telling the truth now.

"Really?" Will wondered and then grinned. "That's great then," the younger man turned to him and his eyes opened wide as he saw the man in full armor reach out and put a hand on his shoulder. "I was going to allow you in our guild if you could have just taken out his two minions while I fought him. If you can take that boss on your own though, then you should definitely be able to find a place in the Divine Dragons."

_I could?_ the bald man wondered. They continued to walk, but it was at a slower pace than before and now Billy looked troubled while Will talked about clearing the game. "There it is," Will stated and shook his recruit from his thoughts.

"Oh," the bald man said and felt a trickle of sweat come down the left side of his face. "Yeah, there it is," he took the lead again and marched into the cave, _I can do this, it's the final step._

"Billy," Will said in a low tone from behind him and the teenager froze. The bald kid couldn't turn his head, he felt far too much fear from the point of the lance pressed up against the back of his neck. "Who was that message to earlier?" Will was a little suspicious because the teen had said he'd never been to Redford, but he knew where he was going which showed he was lying about that. There were other signs too.

The leader of the Divine Dragons had a detection skill that far outmatched that of the new recruit he was walking with. That's why he noticed the presences inside the cave awaiting them while the bald teen with him was stunned that the man had realized something was going on. _Who is this man? Who's in there?_ "Answer me now, or you'll soon find yourself ceasing to exist from this world, and the one outside."

Billy was sweating badly and his eyes were getting red from how wide he had them open. "Tell me Billy!" Will demanded as he felt some of the presences in the cave start to move. The man wearing full silver armor jumped to the right, sensing something right behind him. When he looked at the spot he was just standing, his eyes doubled in size.

A man was standing right behind where he was a second before, _his stealth must be maxed for my detection not to have noticed him until the last second._ The man had on a black cloak and was smiling under it. He had a scar on his face down to his chin and Will couldn't see his eyes the way the hood of the cloak was angled.

Three men were coming out of the cave and Will's back was to the wall. _This is bad,_ the leader of the Divine Dragons thought and rose his shield while holding his lance steady in his other hand.

The five in front of him charged at the same time. Will was surprised, expecting them to ask him questions before straight up attacking. He hadn't been able to pull out a teleportation crystal yet, which meant his only option was to fight against the overwhelming odds. "I thought you'd want to know secrets about the upper floors, or information about my guild and the other top guilds," Will shouted and smashed his shield forward, blocking two attacks from his left at the same time.

The block from his shield was powerful enough to knock one of the men down while pushing back the other several feet. He swung his lance in a wide circle in front of him, causing the other three members to jumped backwards to avoid the point. He didn't stay at the top for this long by being a pushover, and he was prepared to kill all of the cloaked figures and Billy. He could see the sweat on the circling men's faces and on the one who was standing back up after the hard earlier hit from the shield. Will continued to shout at them, since he learned that was the best way to intimidate an enemy in a fight, "But I guess you five aren't really after information are you?! You're just a bunch of pussies who try to gang up on me five on one! Did you really think that would work?"

_Behind!_ Will spun and lifted his shield, blocking a knife that had sparks coming out of the point. "Now you're trying to paralyze me?! Pathetic!" he roared and lowered his shield to see who snuck up on him from behind. There was a sixth man with long gray hair coming out of his cloak, and this one looked just as nervous as the others when his throwing knife missed its mark. He slammed his lance out towards him, slamming into his enemy's chest and knocking the man backwards. He couldn't follow up on the attack and finish him, knowing he had to spin to block the next attack already coming at him.

When he spun, he wasn't met with the whole group of five standing there, he was only met with one man. The man who tried to get him first while he had his lance pressed up against Billy's neck, the one whose stealth skill was through the roof. Will tried blocking with his shield, but the attack knocked his shield to the left, giving an opening before the Divine Dragon could pull his shield back to block. _That scar!_ Will thought as the man slashed across his body.

He tried raising his lance to hit his foe, but the enemy spun to the right and dragged his sword up the lance and up Will's arm before twirling and cutting him across the back. Will dropped into the yellow and he barely managed to spin with his shield raised, blocking the next attack coming down at him and pushing his opponent back. The man he was fighting solo was off guard from the block enough for him to get a direct hit with his lance, and the leader of the enemies slid backwards on the dirt, dragging his feet on the ground so hard that the immortal object purple indicators appeared all over the floor.

"IT'S YOU!" Will roared and his foe didn't charge back in immediately, hesitating from the furious rage-filled scream. Will wasn't going to hesitate though and he charged at the enemy, pulling his lance back so that the weapon glowed blue before he shot it forward and knocked the enemy's sword aside as he tried to block. "PoH, I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU!" Will spun and smacked aside the enemy leader's sword with his shield when the man went in for another attack and he tried to jab with another sword skill from his lance.

"And we've been looking for you for a long time," PoH replied with a smirk as he jumped over the jab and flipped in midair. He drew a dagger from his waist since his sword was on the floor too far from him. As he landed behind the Divine Dragon, he brought his knife down Will's back and cut through his armor enough to damage him more. Will had just gotten back into the green, but now his health was farther in the yellow than before.

The silver clad man spun and his shield slammed into the foe behind him who couldn't block with the small dagger. PoH's health was too low for the other men to continue standing by and watching, and all four of the other black cloaked fighters charged at the same time. Will stabbed one and felt a weak slash on his back, causing him to spin and block two more attacks while slamming his lance into the one who slashed him. He knocked everyone aside and sprinted forward at the man who killed so many of his comrades.

PoH faltered for a second as Will's eyes met his own, his cloak lifting up a little. Will's eyes were full of righteous fury, rage PoH had never before seen in this game. "This is for Ichiwo!" Will shouted the name of the man he personally instructed to infiltrate Laughing Coffin. He sent the man to his death, and it haunted him every day, but at least he could pay it back to PoH.

Will lifted his lance up and it glowed brighter than ever before. A man tried getting in the way of him and their leader, and Will slammed his weapon straight through the already injured man, shattering him into blue virtual fragments. He lifted the weapon up and PoH's eyes went wide as there was nothing his small dagger could do up against the huge glowing lance.

Before Will could bring his weapon down on the man, he felt a cut on the back of his knees and he fell forward, his face hitting the ground as he skid across the floor at the front of the cave. He was sprinting too fast towards his enemy and the cut didn't cause him to lose any of his momentum, making him crash straight into PoH who toppled backwards.

The leader of the Divine Dragons saw his health was in the red, but so was PoH's. He spun from his stomach to his back and rose his lance in a fast sword skill that only took a second to activate. The cloaked man who sliced the back of his knees was jumping up in the air with his sword over his head, and he couldn't stop himself from falling down on the lance and impaling himself. Will pushed hard and buried his lance through the man's back as the guy screamed in pain and then exploded.

Will struggled up to his feet and wished he had a potion equipped at the moment. _Not that they'd give me a single second to use it,_ he thought with a grimace, seeing three men closing in on him. They were hesitating because of their two dead comrades, but Will could see a different kind of hesitation in Billy's eyes. "You don't have to fight with them!" he said in a loud, but calm voice. "This moment could mark the end of Laughing Coffin forever. Help me, help me finish this so that we can end this game and return to our own world Billy!"

The man in armor didn't feel the sword coming at the back of his legs until it was too late and the slash was deep. His health dropped from the high red to a small corner on the top left of his vision in a second and he fell to his knees in tremendous pain. PoH was standing up from the spot behind Will where he cut the man with one of his fallen guild member's swords. "Finish it," Poh said and was panting pretty hard, but smiling once again as Will dropped his lance.

The bald man not wearing a black cloak walked straight up to Will and looked down into the man's eyes as Will looked up to meet the teenager's gaze. "Billy, don't..."

"My name was never Billy," the boy said and rose the sword in his hand so it started to glow red. "And I don't want this game to end," the bald guy continued with a crazy smirk. "Why the Hell would I want to return to the boring outside world? Out there, I was no one. In here..." he lifted his sword higher and Will closed his eyes, _I'm sorry everyone. You'll have to finish this without me._ The man whose name wasn't Billy finished, "I'm the one, who killed The Silver Lancer." He brought down the weapon and cut Will's head vertically in half.

The armored man fizzled and shook for a second, before his whole body exploded into a bunch of small blue pieces and rained down. The two men wearing black cloaks, other than PoH, removed their hoods and looked at each other. PoH walked up between Kuradeel and Tyrone, and stopped when he reached the third fighter remaining on their side. "From this day forth, you are officially a member of Laughing Coffin. Welcome Drexel."

The man who killed Will put his sword away and opened up his inventory, adorning himself in a black cloak to match his leader and raising his hood. Tyrone spoke out now that everyone was quiet, "The cannons are about to go off. Guess our streak of staying in the shadows is over."

"Orange players are going to be flocking to us," Kuradeel agreed with a snicker. He continued, "The red guild who killed the Silver Lancer."

"Next," PoH started and looked around at his men, "we kill the Lightning Flash." He turned specifically to Kuradeel and the others looked his way too, "How do you feel about that?"

The man with long gray hair was looking down and he lifted his head so the others could all see the crazy gleam in his eyes and the crazed look on his face. "I can't wait."

**Floor 50**

_**BANG!**_ Kirito stopped his conversation with Agil inside the blacksmith's shop and they both instinctively looked up. They were inside the shop, but their heads seemed to move on their own. "As I was saying..." the bald black man continued as he tried to sell Kirito an overpriced helmet while the younger boy humored him. He couldn't finish his conversation because they heard screaming outside and then another gunshot went off.

"Let's check it out," Kirito said and turned, walking out the door and looking around. They were in a cramped alleyway and Agil walked out and pointed down towards the main street where they would have a better view of the sky.

The shouts and calls of alarm were all coming from main street anyway and people were piling outside of restaurants and inns trying to check it out. Everyone stared straight up at the sky and were amazed by what they saw. Kirito was stunned for a moment and then a small grin appeared on his face. Agil saw the kid's smile and couldn't help but smile himself. The boy in the Blackwrym Coat started, "I thought when they came back, it would be cause for mourning."

"Same," the blacksmith agreed. People all over the street were cheering as they stared at the LC symbols next to the two men's names up in the sky. The black coffins with white crazy faces on them were a sign for celebration. "I haven't seen or heard anything about them for over a month, and now..." a third cannon went off and the cheers and hollers all caught in everyone's throats.

Agil and Kirito were looking at each other, and Kirito watched the black man look up first. Agil's reaction was all he needed to know that the third definitely wasn't another member of LC. The sixteen year old saw people falling to their knees around him and more than a few people screamed at the top of their lungs. His head lifted slowly, ever so slowly as he stared up at the sky, looking away from the pained expression on Agil's face.

Will's smiling photo i.d. was up in the sky. The man looked two years younger than the last time Kirito saw him, and much less serious. Under his photo read 'William Smith,' and he had a Divine Dragon's blue dragon symbol next to his name. _No,_ Kirito thought and closed his eyes for a second, opening them and still not believing what he saw. _This can't be happening... it is happening!_ the boy opened his mouth and screamed, "FU..."

**Floor 55**

"...CK!" In the center of Grandzam, right in front of the Knights of the Blood Oath fortress, Godfree screamed profanity at the top of his lungs and stunned everyone around him as much as the photo in the sky did. No one had ever seen the man get this angry before. He was almost always smiling except in the most dire of situations where he was sad, but angry? This was a new Godfree none of them had seen before.

Asuna had tears coming down the corners of her eyes and Heathcliff was staring up at the sky from the stairs behind her. The man with the large tower shield lowered it a little and sighed, "I thought he would make it to the end, I really did." The leader turned around and slowly started walking back towards the castle.

The orange haired girl in front of him looked to her right and saw Godfree taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down while a few others were talking to him. She saw another of the first four members, Xavier, down on his knees staring up in silence. Will's image in the sky was more than a lot of them could take and many of their own guild members were on their knees shouting profanity at Laughing Coffin.

"Since the twenty-sixth floor," Asuna whispered and a few of the others near her looked her way. "He's been encouraging every single one of us. He's been telling us to keep fighting, to stay strong."

The leader of their own guild was strong, and he led boss raids on occasion, but Will was different from Heathcliff. Will was better at talking, at giving speeches to his men and all the clearers. He showed up and led raids against bosses on dozens of floors, saved people in her own guild on more than one occasion and then shouted at them to keep fighting. The way he fought always amazed her, and he led them against Laughing Coffin. "He led the crusade raid against them, and today he killed two more. Will was making this world safer for the rest of us," she was getting louder and Godfree, Xavier, and the others stopped shouting and turned towards her. Heathcliff froze at the top of the stairs and looked back down at the second-in-command.

"He was making this world safer, and yet, he," she broke off for a second and glared up at the faces next to his in the sky. "Will died, but he died fighting the same way he lived. For us!" On over seventy floors, people were mourning the loss of a true leader in the game. Thousands of people were screaming and sobbing as not a single person didn't know who he was. "We will beat this world!"

"Yeah!" her men shouted and got off their knees. They wiped the tears from their faces and rose their weapons.

"But before we do," Asuna yelled and her men were all looking to the young teenage girl. She looked around at each one of them individually and saw the same anger in their eyes that she could feel in her own. The girl drew her sword, held it up in the air, and finished, "We will destroy Laughing Coffin!"

**September 24, 2024.**

"Kirito-kun!" Asuna called out and the boy leaning up against the wall of a nearby building lifted his head up. He was wearing all black and looked like he hadn't had much sleep in the last few days. This was the first time Asuna had seen him for a few weeks and they hadn't planned on it in advance.

The teenager was surprised to see Asuna running towards him, but his face didn't show it. "Hi Asuna," he said with a small wave as she reached him. He looked over her shoulder and saw two men behind her wearing the white and red cloaks of the KoBO. "How's the search going?" he asked her.

"How did you..." she started before quickly closing her mouth. She never told him she was back looking for LC, but then again she didn't have to. The same way she knew he had been searching for the past week, he knew she had as well. "Nevermind," she muttered with an aggravated look on her face, "We can't find a single trace of them anywhere. Organized crime in the lower floors is going down too," both of them grimaced, knowing that that could only mean the criminals were joining up again.

"All the more reason for us to focus on clearing this world faster. Do you know when the next floor battle is taking place?" Kirito asked her casually.

Before Asuna could answer, the man behind her with long white hair grunted and stepped forward so he was next to their guild's second in command. "You don't need to worry about it. The Knights of the Blood Oath are taking this one," Kuradeel glared at Kirito and Asuna gave him a quick stare telling him to ease up a little.

"Well, I'll be there anyway," Kirito mentioned, just to let Asuna know in advance, (since he couldn't care less about the older guy next to her).

"It's a good thing I found you then, the clearing meeting is tomorrow morning. We'll probably clear it by the end of the week." Asuna told her friend, ignoring her bodyguards' looks.

Jinto walked up behind Asuna and put a hand on her shoulder, "It's time to head out," he stated. The man had never once made eye contact with Kirito the whole time they'd been there, and the sixteen year old was more pissed off and insulted by getting ignored than by Kuradeel's attitude towards him. "The rest of the party is waiting at the dungeon already," he started walking with Asuna's shoulder still in his hand.

The girl getting pulled away looked back over her shoulder between the two men and mouthed to Kirito, '_See you tomorrow morning.'_ The boy wearing the black cloak nodded and she smiled before turning back around and walking down the main street of Ragu on the seventy-third floor. It was the largest city on the floor and the first one reached after clearing the seventy-second.

Kirito breathed in deeply and then released, "Ahhh." The teen had spent days searching for any clues on Laughing Coffin's whereabouts, but as expected, he came up empty. _It took us months to find them the first time, and that was with a rat in their midsts. Now they have less players to track, and they're going to be more careful this time. _He shook his head to shake away the thoughts, _I need to focus on getting as strong as possible. If I can just clear these last couple dozen floors, it won't matter how big Laughing Coffin gets. But for now, _he yawned, _I need some sleep before the clearing meeting tomorrow._

**September 26, 2024.**

_Looks like I'm not the only one who decided to ignore the KoBO-only notice,_ Kirito smirked as he walked up to Klein and the Fuurinkazan. "Kirito!" The samurai in red armor exclaimed as the kid in black walked towards him. "Good to see you here man," the red haired player slapped a hand on Kirito's back and grinned.

The younger boy looked around and the party around Klein and he only recognized one of the five party members Klein had with him. The Fuurinkazan really took a harsh blow in the LC raid, and they were pushed down the top guild leaderboard below the Army and the NOPO. Recently they'd been climbing their way back up in power though as Klein recruited a few powerful solo clearers who couldn't make it through the upper floors on their own any longer.

The top floors had been having irregularities in monster abilities and traps that appeared randomly in the wild. It was dangerous playing solo, but some people didn't care. That was why Kirito still hadn't joined his friend even after the dozenth time Klein had asked him. Just being in a guild didn't ensure safety though; the Grislax tried making their way back to fourth place after the death of their leader Uther, but a whole party of six was killed on the seventy-first floor and the remaining guild members disbanded.

The exit of the town was pretty packed for a normal boss battle, but the KoBO were going all out on this one. Even Heathcliff showed up and Kirito could point out all the original members of their guild while he was standing there. Each one of the four had their own party with them, so there were the twenty four of them, the six in Klein's party, and two other solo players besides Kirito. _Thirty three, not bad. It would be great if we could go another boss battle without anyone dying._

Usually the Divine Dragons would compete with the KoBO to decide which guild would lead the boss raid, but this floor no one had even bothered to ask if the DD were coming. The guild was still the second strongest in Aincrad, but there was fighting in their own ranks for who would become the new leader.

No one ever expected Will to die, so there was no system in place for which of the three top officers takes the spot. Yamata and Shivata were the obvious candidates. The two of them and Lind had been the three officers for over a year, and with Lind gone, it should have been a race between them. However, Tamu, the newly appointed third officer, also put his name in the running for leader. He challenged the other two to duels and won them both, yet a lot of people didn't like the creepy man who tended to lick his knives after a fight, and they wouldn't accept him as leader. Now they were planning an election with all their members to finally choose.

_At least Schmitt is now set as the third officer no matter what the outcome of their election,_ Kirito thought. After the Griselda incident, Schmitt really started to impress Kirito by the way he was handling himself and his men in boss raids. The teenager realized he was probably just watching the man more carefully, but he really helped out a lot on the seventy-second floor and even got the finishing blow in. The teenager was struck from his thoughts when they heard the call to move out and everyone left the town to start making their way towards the dungeon with the boss room at the end.

Kirito saw Asuna look his way at one point, but she was surrounded by her own guild members and wouldn't be able to break off and talk to him. For some reason that made him frown deeply and the taller man walking next to him noticed it. "Is something wrong?" Klein questioned.

"Huh? No," Kirito responded and looked away from the orange haired girl. He didn't really know why that upset him, but he had to focus. "Just want to get through this as fast as possible."

Klein was silent for a second and then said, "At a time like this," a few of his guild members looked at him with Kirito as they walked and Klein was staring straight ahead. "I feel like Will would say, 'it's not about how fast we get through it, what's most important is that we all make it through safely.' Right?" The red head looked down to his left and met Kirito's gaze.

The two hadn't spoken since Will's death, but Kirito knew how much his samurai friend looked up to the leader of the Divine Dragons. There were times on the earlier floors where Klein declared them his enemies and hated them for the way they ran things, but he always thought of Will as more of a rival than anything. He'd challenged Will to duels several times, and he never once bested the Silver Lancer, and now he never would. "Yeah, you're right," Kirito agreed and focused on the task at hand.

When he said he wanted to get through as fast as possible, he meant the game as a whole, not this specific boss fight. They'd been trapped inside a virtual world for two years now, it was time to get out already, but instead of moving faster, they were slowing down. _We've lost over half our clearers in the last three months,_ Kirito thought while they walked towards the large tower where the boss was located. _The risk from the irregularities is too high, and too many players are giving up to save themselves._

"Look out," an older member of Klein's guild called out.

Kirito wasn't paying attention and he looked up to see a large bird with the head of a snake dropping down towards him. He drew his sword and slashed it while already dodging its talon swipe. A few KoBO members slowed down as part of their large raid group was attacked, but most of them just kept walking: either not caring about the beater, or knowing that he could handle it easily. The boy spun out of the way of the beast's sharp tongue that shot out towards him when the monster was about to die, and then he ran his sword across the bird's chest and blew it apart.

"Whoa," one of the other new members of the Fuurinkazan muttered. Kirito beat the monster in a few seconds, a monster strong enough to get aggroed to him when he was still a good distance off from it. The guy who was amazed was one who had been trying to catch up to the main group for a while. Klein saw him training a few floors down and invited him to join, and after sharing a few quests with the samurai guild, his experience shot up incredibly fast compared to when he played solo.

"Don't be too amazed Trent," Klein said and elbowed the new guy in the side playfully. "Save that for the boss fight," he chuckled and Kirito smirked at his own reputation.

The boy wearing all black fell back a little from the front where he had been walking and next to the tall guy with shoulder length blonde hair who warned him about the bird. "Thanks," he said, "wasn't really paying attention to where I was walking."

"No problem," the guy responded. Kirito recognized him as the only one who had been in Klein's guild for a while, his name was Wing. "Might be in different guilds, but we're all in this together," the man said. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and he gave Kirito a nod showing that thanks really wasn't necessary.

Before they knew it, the dungeon entrance was in sight and Heathcliff had the group stop. "For anyone who hasn't been in this dungeon already, there are two common mobs that spawn in it..." Kirito had spent a lot of time training inside this dungeon so he wasn't paying much attention. He tuned back in when the leader of the KoBO started talking about the boss though. "...and our scouts tell us he has three health bars. They weren't able to damage him enough before teleporting out, so we don't know what his change in strategy will be when he hits the red, but let's try to finish him altogether as soon as that change occurs. Let's move."

Heathcliff didn't wait for questions; he just marched ahead of the group into the dark dungeon. Everyone followed behind him and his guild members kept grinning whenever their leader struck down a mob in a few hits without taking any damage himself. The KoBO were the strongest in Aincrad, and more and more players were joining them all the time. Kirito saw a few of the probably newer members admiring their leader's skill and congratulating themselves for being in the same guild as him.

The boy tried not to scoff at them and kept his cool as he sliced enemies in about the same amount of hits it took Heathcliff to do it. Sometimes it would take him four hits where it would have only taken the older man three or two, but Kirito reasoned with himself, _It's because I'm not using my dual wield. If I was, I'd be just as good as him, maybe._ He had his doubts and every time he watched the leader of the KoBO take down an enemy, his doubts rose higher.

He looked around and the Knights had really brought everyone out for this one. The four original members were all there: Heathcliff, Asuna, Godfree, and Xavier was in charge of the fourth party. He was amazed by Asuna's speed as she struck an enemy six times and then spun around it, knocking it into one of her friends to finish off. Her party member sliced it in half and the skeleton monster exploded into blue shards. Godfree and Xavier were both extremely impressive as well and Kirito found himself wondering how the three of them weren't in charge of their own guilds. _Each one of them could probably beat Klein,_ he decided as he watched the samurai and then back to the top four members of the KoBO, _but I guess they don't want to have their own guilds. They just want to get out of here like the rest of us._

The raid group made it through the dungeon with relative ease and everyone held up at the huge double doors until they were back at full health. "Don't let its appearance fool you," Heathcliff warned as he reached for the left door while Xavier grabbed the other. Next to the taller, more muscular guild leader in full red armor, Xavier looked small in comparison. While Heathcliff had grayish hair, the younger man had longer black hair and was a few inches shorter than their leader. He also didn't have as good of armor or the large tower shield that Heathcliff had, but instead a longsword that he had to hold with both hands that was in its sheath so he could push the right door open.

"Its appearance?" Klein asked, wondering what the KoBO scouts knew about the boss that they hadn't already told them.

Godfree scratched the back of his head and turned around to the other red haired clearer. "Just remember what we said about its health and offensive tactics," the older man with the scruffy beard laughed and looked back forward to where the seventy-third floor boss was going to appear.

The group started walking into the lit up room, and in the center, was a sheep. Above the fluffy white creature, read the words, 'Sheeptar the Sheep King.' Everyone went silent after looking at it, and then their eyes turned huge as it tilted its head at them and went, "Baaaa!"

"That's our opponent?" Asuna wondered out loud. She heard the reports from the scouts, but they didn't say it was _this _ridiculous.

Suddenly the sheep's eyes turned red and three full green health bars appeared above his head. "BAAAAA! **BAAAAA!**" The noises it was making got lower and the sheep started charging at them, the cute little sheep with red eyes and a sword under its front right hoof.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Wing shouted as he was swiped by the crazy fast sheep and knocked backwards. His health almost dropped half from the one charge attack and everyone stopped ridiculing the sheep and got serious.

After forty minutes of fighting, the clearers were getting exhausted. They'd managed to make it this far without losing anyone, but only because when Sheeptar focused on someone, he didn't stop chasing until he'd gotten a hit in, or someone else distracted it. That gave the badly injured players more time to heal while the others aggroed the monster.

"I've seen weird bosses, powerful bosses," Klein started as he blocked Sheeptar's attack and let Kirito sprint in behind him for a switch. "But I've never seen a stupid boss like this. I have to say Kayaba really didn't put a lot of thought into this boss." The sheep dodged Kirito's attack by shooting a web out of its backside and swinging up to the ceiling where it started crawling to the other side. "Seriously?!" the samurai shouted.

"How can a sheep do that?!" One of the men in Godfree's party yelled as the white fluffy creature dropped out of the sky and shoved its sword in the ground between them. The Sheep King hopped up and his hooves went in four directions, knocking the men in white and red cloaks backwards as they rose their swords.

"Perhaps Kayaba was doing it as a joke!" Heathcliff shouted and charged at the sheep, stabbing it with his sword and then blocking the next attack with his shield.

"Well then he has a terrible sense of humor!" Asuna yelled back as she charged the sheep and stabbed it four times in a row. No one noticed it, but Heathcliff's mouth opened a little bit and looked a little hurt before regaining his composure and looking around. The leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath frowned and marched forward towards the sheep with half a health bar left, _Terrible sense of humor. Give them a break after seventy two serious bosses, and all they do is complain. Ah, no matter..._

Kirito was preparing to charge in with Wing and Trent, but as he looked across the battlefield he saw Heathcliff walking towards the sheep. Sheeptar kicked away one of the other solo players and then growled at the man wearing strong red armor. Heathcliff charged at the same moment it did and they clashed swords. He pushed back and the sheep swung again, this time hitting the powerful shield that the man used to parry the blow and strike back when the sheep had an opening.

The Knights all started cheering for their leader as he kept pushing Sheeptar back and cutting him up as he did. Kirito and the other two lowered their weapons a little and forgot about charging in. Almost everyone in the room was cheering for the gray haired man as he battled the sheep. _He just got hit twice, maybe it'll happen today._ Kirito looked closely at the health bar above Heathcliff's head, but it still wasn't in the yellow yet.

A few others were looking at the same spot and they were all hoping it would happen. No one wanted Heathcliff to get seriously hurt, most of the KoBO members loved their leader, but they all wanted to see history be made. Even Asuna was glancing up at his health bar from the actual action and knew she'd never seen it drop in the yellow before.

Heathcliff was starting to get a little nervous himself. It was clear to everyone there that he had made this his personal battle, and calling for a switch now after taking down so much of Sheeptar's health would stain his reputation. However, _I can't hit the yellow,_ he knew everything would be over if that happened, so he made his decision.

_What the..._ Kirito's mouth lowered a little as Heathcliff's movements started speeding up bit by bit. He was more of a strength and defense player than speed, but now he was lifting his shield and blocking attacks that should have been impossible to block before. His sword cut deep in Sheeptar's skin and as a last ditch resort, the boss's eyes went back to normal except the black orbs were larger and watering. It looked like it was about to cry, and this was the point to make a player hesitate seeing such a cute animal about to die, but Heathcliff created this monster; he wasn't going to fall for his own trick.

The Strongest Man slammed his sword down on the sheep's face and a few people winced seeing the cute face get slashed, but not many people cared. Most were just a little disappointed by the fact they didn't see their leader's health drop in the yellow, but they were much more excited by how strong the man really was. Kirito always thought he couldn't be too far behind Heathcliff, and maybe he was even a little ahead of the man, but the show of strength the KoBO's leader just put on proved to him that he needed to work hard to match the so called "Strongest Man in Aincrad."

'Congratulations!' appeared in the air above them and everyone started cheering on the gray haired paladin who finished off the boss. Heathcliff took the fur coat he received from getting the last hit on the monster, but he wasn't too focused on it. He wasn't listening to his officers or his members who crowded him telling him how amazing it was, because he knew he didn't deserve it, not having obtained the powers he just used through fair playing of the game. He had to use his admin powers to max his speed to defeat Sheeptar before he was brought down to the yellow, and it made him upset with himself for cheating.

What he was able to pay attention to, was when his eyes locked onto the Black Knight. Kirito was frowning deeply and staring straight at Heathcliff, but it wasn't eye contact the two were making. Kirito was staring as if he was looking straight through him, and Heathcliff stared back at the teenager watching his reaction. The boy was thinking of possible ways he could defeat Heathcliff if they ever had to fight, and Heathcliff knew it, but they both also had doubts in their minds.

_How did he move so fast? If his stats are focused on strength and defense, he shouldn't have enough skill points to have speed that high._

_ Could he possibly be suspicious of me? He should be the one, but it was supposed to be given out dozens of floors ago. Whoever obtained the ability must have died before they were able to show it._

Finally Kirito realized the person he was staring at was looking back at him through the crowd of clearers and he averted his eyes. It was rude to stare at someone, so the boy instead started walking towards the next floor. _I have to train. I have to get stronger. _I _have to clear this game! Before anyone gets up there, I'll take the hardest quests I can and dual wield my way through them! I will get stronger!_

**A/N Hey everyone! Will nooooo! I liked the guy, I think I created his character all the way back in the second chapter, but LC is back and coming for the top players in the game! They started with the man who led the raid on their guild, and now they're coming after Asuna, (RUN ASUNA!) Hope you enjoyed the boss battle at the end, where I'm trying to start Kirito's suspicions towards Heathcliff (aka Akihiko Kayaba), and I will put a disclaimer here: besides not owning SAO, which should be obvious, I also don't own SAO abridged on YouTube, where I got the idea for Sheeptar. Next time we get some Asuna and Kirito on the seventy-fourth floor, Ragout Rabbit!**

mailbox killer

Good to have you back great chapter

**Thank you! Great to be back.**

Delta Marauder

You are alive... I'll be damned. Anyways as usual in this story I feel bad for Kirito, fighting to the death for about an hour just to be scolded for letting a very minor slip-up in defence get past him. Anyways update soon and keep up the good work.

**Haha, yep I'm alive! Hard not to feel bad for Kirito; he has all the pressure of clearing the game on him from Sachi, Diabel, Teddy, Liz, and everyone who's told him he can do it through the years. Asuna was a little harsh, but at least Liz was there to show her she was wrong. Thanks for the review! Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and I hope you enjoyed! 'Till next time!**


	16. Chapter 16

**October 3, 2024.**

Kirito clashed his weapon with the boss in front of him and parried the monster's blow. He was in the dungeon on the seventy fourth floor on his own, trying to finish a quest that pretty much had him just training in he hardest dungeon on the floor. There were weird orange lines coming down from the high ceiling and going off the side of the wide path he was on. Huge white trees stuck out of the large dark walls covered in green lines, and the trippy looking dungeon was intense.

Most of the mobs had been difficult to beat, but now he had to fight the blue lizard-monster with a curved sword and a buckler. The enemy could use strong sword skills and its weapon would glow orange every time it clashed with Kirito's. The boy's black Elucidator was glowing blue and sparks flew off their weapons as they collided. **Clank! Crack!** He smashed against the lizard's sword and then his shield, having little luck pushing against it.

They locked weapons again, but this time the lizard was the one to push off and knock Kirito's weapon to the side to give it an opening. It slashed again and cut the boy a shallow wound across his chest. Kirito saw red shards and pieces of black cloth from his cloak float in the air and the pain registered but he ignored it. _Crap, he's too strong,_ the boy thought as he pulled his body back and started running the other direction.

The blue creature had a long tail and was wearing leather armor. Its red eyes glowed as the kid started running and then its sword glowed orange again. Kirito wasn't really running away, he was trying to fool the monster that fell right into his trap by sprinting forward with a sword skill readied.

Right as it was about to collide with him, he spun around and ducked under the blade. At the same time he lifted his weapon and cut across the enemy mob's chest, cutting a large red line through it. His sword glowed brighter and as the lizard turned to swipe back, Kirito spun up in the air in a three sixty degree spin, slashing his enemy three times and then cutting it on the back of the neck as he came back down.

He was moving too fast for the lizard to keep up with, and even though it was taking him a lot of hits, he was tearing away at its health. The boy cut again on the monster's back and then saw it turning and swiping down over its right shoulder to hit the teen behind it. Kirito didn't even have to look up to feel the blade coming and he ducked under it, then spun and smashed the enemy with his hardest hit yet, knocking it backwards where it froze. Four blue lines formed a box around it and shot out in different directions as it screamed and exploded into virtual fragments.

The boy looked up at his health bar and saw it was barely taken down a fifth in the attack. He gained eight thousand experience from it, not much considering his level, but a lot for almost everyone else in the game. He also got a thousand Col from it, and that was good for a broke kid like him. He took a deep breath to calm his staggered breathing and then sighed, _It's been nearly two years since this death game began. Over three thousand people are dead, and I'm still fighting alone on the front lines._

He sheathed his sword in the sheath behind his back and then looked up to the right at the oddly shaped ceiling above him. _Akihiko Kayaba is out there somewhere, watching this world. What is he feeling right now?_ The boy realized he was thinking way too deeply. He was just one player, and it was time for a break in the day's training, _Guess I'll head home._

**Floor 73**

Asuna, the Lightning Flash, the second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood Oath, was bored.

The orange haired girl was stuck with one of her bodyguards, Kuradeel, for the day's training. The man had been her party member, and then her bodyguard, for close to a year now. In that whole time, she never once considered him a friend. Sometimes she would get angry at herself, knowing that he was only trying to help, and that she was being harsh by not liking him more, but she couldn't help it.

"Where to now My Lady?" he asked and the girl twitched, her forehead getting a small tick mark on it before she sighed. There was no point in telling him to stop calling her 'My Lady,' she had a hundred times already and he was always totally opposed to being so casual with her.

_I don't want you to treat me like your superior. We've been working together for a year, and we still aren't friends._ The two of them had just finished eating, and all the blackish gray haired man talked about the whole time was how amazing she was during the morning's training through a seventy-third floor dungeon. The next floor was still a little dangerous to be going off alone or even in pairs, and since it was only them training for today, they were staying on the floor below.

Asuna paid the bill with the money she made killing mobs that morning, putting a little aside for her home as always, then turned to her subordinate. _Just deal with him for a little longer, _she thought and started walking for the door, not in the mood for much talking at the moment. She was bored, incredibly so, but the boredom sprouted from a deeper issue, one she tried not to think about very often. Asuna was lonely.

She had acquaintances in her own guild, maybe she could even call Godfree a friend considering he didn't treat her like royalty. Heathcliff was strong, powerful, and an effective leader. She respected him, but he wasn't the type of person to have friends, not that she'd want to anyway. There were a few others she was friendly with, but none she went out with outside of work.

"Let's head back to the dungeon from earlier," she stated in a monotone voice, a deep frown on her face. She was stuck in the same routine on every floor, and even with Laughing Coffin reappearing a few weeks ago, not much had changed in this world. Asuna found herself sighing again and kept walking ahead of her bodyguard who was smirking ear to ear.

_That's what I thought you'd say,_ he thought and opened up his menu so it was only visible to him. He typed out a message while the girl he was guarding walked ahead of him, _This is the day. My Lady, it's time for you to die!_

While Kuradeel was sending a message out to his awaiting comrades, Asuna also had her menu open. She was scrolling through her friend list, looking at all the names of clearers in her guild and others who she knew. _Why is this called a 'friend list?' It's not like they're all my friends,_ she passed over Lizbeth while she was scrolling and smiled brightly for the first time all morning. _There's one,_ she thought, seeing the first real friend on her list after scrolling past two dozen names.

The girl was about to close her menu when she saw a name at the bottom and her feet stopped moving. _Last time I saw him was at the seventy third boss battle, but Sheeptar didn't give us any time to talk._ She missed the conversations she had with Kirito, back before her security detail became tighter and she rarely ever went out without Kuradeel or another guard with her.

"My Lady?" Kuradeel wondered as he reached her side and saw her swiping around in front of her. Asuna was looking at a map and quickly put it away, looking to her guard with a smile on her face that surprised Kuradeel. It was odd for her to be in a good mood during training.

"I just checked, my rapier's durability went pretty far down during that last mid-level boss we took on," she lied. "I'll have to get it repaired before we head back out."

Kuradeel frowned and tried to fix the situation quickly, "I'm sure there's a blacksmith here in Ragu who can..."

"No," she stated firmly.

Before Asuna could continue, her guard spouted, "We can not keep heading down to visit the pink haired girl every time you need armor or your sword fixed. Whenever you go there we wind up staying for the rest of the day."

"I always tell you that you can go," she retorted. She didn't like to pull her superior position over her guard, so she rarely _ordered_ him to leave her and Liz alone, but she would tell him he could go very often, though he barely ever listened. "But that's besides the point, we're not heading to _Liz's_," she stressed her friend's name since Kuradeel didn't bother to respect her enough to say it. "I know a blacksmith on floor fifty, we're heading to Algade."

_Agil, I think that's his shop. After the Griselda incident, I don't think we've talked since. _She knew the man from all the way back on the first floor, but from then to the fake murder in the safe zone, she never really talked to him, and then after the mystery was solved she didn't speak with him again. However, the day they went to him and found out that Grimlock made the red sword Guilty Thorn, she learned where his shop was and Kirito was currently in that location on the fiftieth floor.

She started leading Kuradeel to the center of Ragu and the man behind her held up a hand, opening his mouth before freezing. _It isn't the right time after all,_ he closed his mouth and strayed back as he opened back up his menu and sent another message out. 'She changed her mind. We won't be back there for a while.' He just hoped he didn't get in trouble for the false alarm.

"Teleport: Algade!" Asuna yelled, not checking behind her to see if Kuradeel was following. Actually she would very much prefer it if he didn't follow her on this visit, since the man would always antagonize Kirito when the three of them were together. _Can't he understand we're all in this together?_ Asuna thought with a sigh as a blue light flashed and her guard appeared behind her.

She started speedwalking down the street and the member of her guild with her noticed she seemed to be a little too excited to reach the blacksmith. He followed her off the main road and then down an alley and down another section until they hit a rather sketchy looking blacksmith's shop.

Asuna walked right in and Kuradeel walked behind her but they realized neither of the two occupants of the room noticed them. There was a large muscular man with brown skin behind the counter leaning down and talking to a shorter boy with messy black hair and a sword strapped to his back. They came in during the middle of a conversation, but they were able to pick up on what was going on pretty fast, "But who has their cooking skill high enough to prepare an item like that?" The boy in front of the counter asked with his inventory held out in front of him for the other man to see.

"Right..." Agil muttered and crossed his arms, looking even bigger than before. "If we tried, we'd just burn it."

Kirito sighed and Asuna stepped forward during the break in the conversation, "Kirito," she said and tapped him on the left shoulder. Agil was looking at the orange haired girl in surprise and then he and the man behind her stared at each other for a second, both getting a bad vibe from the other. _Never liked that guy,_ Agil thought and the other man knew he felt that way and got a little nervous before glaring down at the boy who his Lady most certainly came to find in the first place.

Kirito saw Asuna and his first reaction was to grab the right hand she used to tap him on the back and hold it tight, "Chef- captured!"

Asuna didn't know how he knew exactly what she was about to offer and she stuttered, "Wh-What?" She forgot that she had made him lunch before, though he would never forget one of the best meals he'd ever had in Aincrad.

Kuradeel grunted angrily and Kirito saw the bodyguard and released Asuna's hand. "Uh, sorry," he held up his hands and realized that was a bit of a weird greeting. "Hey! How unusual to see you in a dive like this Asuna."

It was Agil's turn to grunt angrily at something Kirito said as the boy insulted his shop, but no one else seemed to notice.

Asuna looked at the boy and didn't even care that she was about to let Kuradeel know she was lying earlier, she suspected he'd already figured out the reason they came here. She feigned an uninterested expression and said, "It's almost time for the next boss raid, so I just came to see if you were alive."

The man behind her frowned deeply, annoyed he was lied to by the girl he was plotting to kill around this time. He glared at the orange haired girl's back as she had a conversation with her friend. Kirito put his hands on his hips, not believing his reason, "I'm on your friend list. You can tell from that, can't you?"

She ignored the question and looked away, "As long as you're alive, that's good enough." She looked back towards him and her disinterested look faded as she asked, "Anyway, what's going on? Something about a chef?"

"Oh, yeah," he said and pointed at her, "What's your current cooking skill?"

The girl smirked and spun so she was facing him directly; she wanted to see his reaction. "I maxed it last week," both Kirito and Agil were taken aback and lowered their bottom lips as she continued, "Amazing right?"

_She really spent that many skill points on cooking? Well, I guess it can be useful in some situations like this one,_ Kirito looked up, "If you're that good, I have a favor to ask you."

He opened back up his inventory and Asuna wanted to see what they were looking at before that was too hard for them to cook. _Probably some boar meat or something, haha... ha... what?!_ "Huhh? Th-This is a Ragout Rabbit!" She was genuinely stunned and the girl in her white uniform had no idea how he found something so rare.

"I'll trade you," the boy said in a smug voice. "If you cook it for me, I'll let you have a bite."

The girl's face instantly changed from surprised to serious and she closed the distance between them in a millisecond. Asuna grabbed him by the collar and pulled her face close so their eyes were only a foot apart. "You'll. Give. Me. Half!"

Her and her bodyguard had a late lunch because she wanted to get at least halfway through the dungeon during the morning, and the lunch was just a snack from a crappy restaurant twenty three floors up. She was still in the mood for a bite, and this was a delicacy he was holding out in front of her.

The glare she was pointing at Kirito as she dared him to argue with her demands was too severe and he couldn't say anything except, "O-Okay..."

"Alright!" Asuna cheered and jumped back in victory, throwing a hand up in the air.

Kuradeel was staring at the girl he was supposed to be guarding. _Ragout Rabbit is supposed to be impossible to find. Crap! She won't pass up this opportunity for more training,_ the man couldn't help but growl at the lost opportunity.

Kirito smiled at the super happy girl in front of him and then turned only his head back towards Agil, "Sorry. This means our deal's off."

"We're buddies, right? Right?" Agil leaned forward and pleaded to the boy who started to leave his shop, "At least let me taste it too..."

"I'll write you a report in eight hundred words or less," Kirito responded with a smirk as he kept walking away. The older man always teased Kirito for being so young that he should be in school, so the boy got him back right there.

Agil looked crestfallen, "Oh come on," he muttered as they all left his shop.

_Sorry Agil, that rabbit is mine,_ Asuna thought, ecstatic about the chance to eat a Ragout Rabbit. She walked out after Kirito and then started following him down the street, Kuradeel walking behind her. _Doesn't he get that he should leave already?_ she thought, but her smile was still on her face, too happy to get angry right now.

"So where should I do the cooking?" she wondered to Kirito. He seemed to blank and stopped walking as he thought of a location with a bead of sweat rolling down his face. "You probably don't have any decent cookware at your place anyway, right?" He didn't respond, but they both knew it was pretty obvious. "Just this once," she began and frowned to make it seem like this wasn't what she wanted, "considering the ingredient, I wouldn't mind using my place."

Kirito was stunned at the offering and he spun with a little bit of red on his cheeks. Asuna pretended not to notice and turned to Kuradeel, "That will be all for today. Thank you for your hard work." _Please don't argue, just leave, please! Damn!_

"Lady Asuna, you can't let someone of such dubious background accompany you home." Kuradeel glared at the Black Knight and his hate for clearers, and actually for most people in this game actually, was all directed towards him for the moment and Kirito could sense the hate, frowning himself.

Asuna sighed and pointed to Kirito, "I trust him, and his skills are for real." _He could protect me better than you, not that I need protecting!_ She smirked at Kuradeel and said, "He's probably at least ten levels above you, Kuradeel."

Kirito was usually fine with people boasting about his reputation, but when it was used as an insult right to someone's face, he felt a little uncomfortable and wished the guy would just leave already. "You're saying that I'm inferior to such a guy?" And instantly Kirito didn't care anymore that Asuna taunted him. "Oh I see, he's one of those _beaters,_" the man chided with a glance at Kirito, internally happy he made the kid flinch with his own taunt.

Kirito turned fully and stared at the man while Asuna glared at him. Beater was pretty much the same as a curse word in this game, and Kuradeel was insulting one of the only real friends she had in here. _You__ might work with me, but you can't say something like that to my friends,_ before she could say anything to him, Kirito replied, "Yes, that's right," completely accepting the insult since he was the one who came up with it in the first place.

Kuradeel was hoping for a better reaction and figured he had one last chance to get Asuna back to their training, and hopefully her demise. "My Lady, all they care about is themselves!" They were drawing the attention of players and NPCs around them and now a lot of people were watching. "Nothing good will come of being around someone like him." Kuradeel was sweating a little, but he was hiding it well with his anger.

"What's happening?"

"Isn't that the Lightning Flash Asuna?"

Asuna ignored the people around her that were watching, but she knew she couldn't start defending Kirito over one of her own members out in public or it would spread over Aincrad in an hour. "Just go home Kuradeel. That's an order from your vice commander." That was the phrase both of them knew would be the end of it. "Let's go," Asuna said and turned, grabbing Kirito by the arm and dragging him down the street.

"A-Are you sure about this?" Kirito didn't think that was the best way to leave her guard. The guy disliked him enough as it was, and he didn't want her getting in any trouble with her guild.

_I've told Heathcliff what I would do if he hurt another of my subordinates for my mistakes, so I don't need to worry about Kuradeel. _She grimaced for a second and then said, "I'm sure," _he wouldn't risk me leaving the guild, but I can still expect some form of Corporal Punishment from this._

Kirito looked back up and saw Kuradeel glaring down the street at the two of them. This glare was different than the angry one from before though, this one made the boy nervous for some reason. The guard's eyes were cold, and full of much more hate than Kirito felt he deserved.

When Asuna and Kirito were out of sight, Kuradeel opened his menu. _I failed today,_ he started typing out a message, _but tomorrow morning I'll get her as soon as she leaves home. All I have to do is pretend like someone is in danger outside of town, and once she's out we'll finish her._ He typed the rest of his message and then closed his menu, _You will die soon "My Lady" and you too you black cloaked fuck._

**Floor 61**

Kirito and Asuna appeared in the center of Selmburg, a beautiful city on the sixty-first floor. The sun up here was far on the horizon, and because of the watery environment of the floor, it made an amazing glow that cast orange and red light around the city.

The two of them walked down a large street for a little while and Asuna loved the expressions on Kirito's face as he looked around the city. Almost everything was made of white marble, so the light on it made it all look so fantastic, which was one of the main reasons she decided to make this place her home.

"It's huge," the boy commented as they entered a larger circular area outside of the main town. There was water surrounding the paths extending out from it and all around the circle. "There's hardly anyone else around. It's really liberating."

Asuna smiled at him, "Then why don't you move here too?"

The boy in all black put his hands in his pockets, "Because I'm seriously lacking in funds." Kirito's mind flashed to the image of Kuradeel glaring off after him and he again felt that weird sensation that something was off, "Anyway, are you really sure about your guard back there?"

"I never said that I wanted one," Asuna whispered in a low voice. "But our policy is to provide bodyguards to the higher-ups." She sounded pretty depressed as she talked about it, and though Kirito was walking behind her and couldn't see her face, he could tell she looked sad. "Before, our guild members were personally invited by the commander. We were just a small guild. But when we began getting more and more people, things changed. When we became known as the strongest guild, things started getting weird."

She didn't even realize it, but this wasn't exactly what she had planned for earlier that day when she was looking for someone to talk to. Back then she just wanted to have a conversation with someone she called a friend, but when she was around Kirito she found herself opening up completely. He could hear it in her voice and what she was saying. Asuna no longer liked the way things were run in her guild. He didn't know what to say to her about it though, and she seemed to realize she was pressing him with some of her problems, spinning around with a smile on her face, "Well, it's not a big deal, so don't worry about it!"

_Whether or not I like the system doesn't really matter. I should help out as best as I can to get through this world! But not too fast, there's Ragout Rabbit to eat first!_ The girl spun back to keep walking towards her house and called back to him, "We should hurry, or it'll get dark."

"R-Right," he said and followed her as she turned down the next path towards a residential area.

They walked down the street and then Asuna went to her door and unlocked it, leading Kirito inside. The boy walked in and was instantly amazed. His room looked like a room inside an inn... which is exactly what it was. This place, it was, well, "Amazing," he whispered. "Hey," he looked at the girl who was proud of her decorating skills since Kirito looked amazed, "how much did this all cost?"

"The room and furniture were probably around four million Col..." she mentioned as she looked around her house. The girl smiled at him, "I'm going to go get changed, be right back."

While Asuna walked to the other room to get out of her KoBO uniform, Kirito looked around again. "O-Okay," he called to her, walking over to a comfy-looking chair and sitting on it as he continued to admire her house. "Four million, four megaCol," _She's living in virtual luxury, and I'm stuck in an inn. _"I know I've made at least that much money, but..." _I usually just spend it on better armor and..._ he heard Asuna's steps coming back in the room and he turned around.

Kirito blushed the second he saw her and his eyes couldn't look away. _Wow,_ he thought. The boy had not seen her without her Knights of the Blood Oath gear on in a long time, and definitely not in something like this. She was wearing a short blue skirt and a white t-shirt with light green sleeves.

Unlike her, Kirito was still wearing the same thing from when she left the room and she asked him, "How long do you plan to stay dressed like that?"

Kirito looked down at his protective cloak and light armor, still wearing his sword on his back. "O-Oh right," he realized he should have gotten changed while she was in the other room, but too late now.

Asuna watched as he walked around the corner to get changed and she giggled at the flustered expression he had on his face a minute before, glad she was able to hold it in until he walked out. Kirito poked his head back in the living room and looked over at the giggling Asuna who stopped herself short and her cheeks flushed red, "Oh, um, where should I..."

The orange haired girl realized he probably opened the wrong door down the hall and saw into her room. What would have made her mad with about any other person didn't really bother her and she said, "Just change in the hallway, I promise I won't peek," she teased and his cheeks went redder than hers, causing her to giggle again as soon as his head popped back into the hallway.

When Kirito came back out, he was wearing a comfortable looking black shirt and black pants, not surprising the girl who'd only ever seen him in that color, _except for that one time he wore those rainbow booties,_ she had to put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud and then got to work to distract herself.

The girl asked Kirito how he wanted to S-Class meat cooked, and Kirito told her she could decide, so she chose to make a stew. Cutting the ingredients and setting everything up went by fast, and Kirito was amazed by how fast she prepared everything. She didn't seem as thrilled though and went on about how cooking in SAO wasn't as much work as in real life. She was able to skip out on a lot of steps in the game.

Kirito watched her make a salad after she put the stew in the oven, but then they still had twenty minutes until the stew would be ready. "You said you got to skip out on a lot of steps," Kirito began and tilted his head a little, wondering how she knew that, "did you used to make food a lot back in RL?"

"You know asking about RL is rude," Asuna scolded with a wave of the wooden spoon in her hand. Kirito lifted his hands, about to apologize but Asuna beat him to it, "Just kidding," she said and laughed again. He seemed relieved and she started, "My mom and I were never too close, but she did teach me how to cook. It was something we both really enjoyed, one of the few things we had in common. How about you?"

"Did I ever cook?" Kirito asked with wide eyes and then he started laughing. "Nah, though my aunt is a really great cook. She always tried to get my cous... my sister Sugu to learn, but she was always too busy with her kendo training."

"Your aunt? Do you not live with your parents?" Asuna asked and then instantly regretted it.

Kirito's face looked pained for a second but then he smiled, "No, they died when I was really little. I grew up with my aunt and younger cousin who I thought was my younger sister until a while back."

"I didn't know, I mean, I didn't mean to ask something so personal..."

"It's alright," Kirito assured her, "I like talking about the outside world. It reminds me why I'm trying so hard to get out. I know they're waiting for me out there, and I don't want to keep them waiting any longer."

The two of them smiled at each other and kept talking about less serious things until the stew was ready. When Asuna pulled it out and put it on the counter, it was one of the best things Kirito had ever smelt. And then when they ate it, (more like gobbled it down as fast as they could), they both agreed it was the best meal they'd ever had in Aincrad. They'd never tried an S-Class ingredient before, so this was a first for both of them.

"I'm so glad that I've survived this long," Asuna said in relief, tilting her head back with a smile and her eyes closed.

The meal was totally worth every hardship they'd been through... at least that's what they thought with the taste still in their mouths. "Yeah," Kirito agreed, still in a state of bliss from the amazing food.

"It's strange," Asuna said as she poured herself a cup of tea. She spoke in a quiet tone and the mood got a little more deep than the earlier conversations they were having. "It kind of feels like I was born and raised here my entire life. It's hard to think about what the outside world was even like anymore, this is the world I know."

Kirito took a sip of his own tea and looked down at the table, "Lately, there are days when I can't even remember the other world. It isn't just us though. These days, fewer and fewer people seem desperate to clear the game or escape."

"Right now, there aren't even five hundred players left fighting on the front lines, are there?" Asuna said. With the newer, more dangerous floors, players who wanted to be more cautious were getting left behind. A lot of players died, and more gave up on beating the game at all and retreated to lower floors. "Everyone has grown accustomed, to this world." The Lightning Flash Asuna finished and sounded a little down.

Kirito looked down, depressed as well, but then Asuna spoke again and rose both of their spirits. "But I want to get out. After all, there are lots of things that I never got the chance to do there."

The boy smiled back at her through his long black bangs, "Yeah that's right. We've got to do our best, or we can never face the merchants, blacksmiths, and others who've been supporting us." He looked back down at his tea and took a sip, but then Asuna swung her arm out in front of her and told him to stop it, looking away from him. "What?" he questioned, wondering what he did wrong.

"Several people with that same look on their face have proposed to me before." Asuna's little joke paid off as Kirito's face flushed red and his leg hit the table he jumped so high in his seat. She was watching from the corner of her eye and giggled as she turned back to him, "From the look of things, you aren't close to any other girls, are you?"

Kirito lost his blush and closed his eyes, a defiant attitude crossing his face, "It's fine. I'm a solo player." He chugged his tea like he was on a timer and then put it down fast.

"You don't want to join a guild Kirito?" she asked him. Her orange eyes met his black ones and the two of them stared at each other. "I know the beta players don't fit in with groups. But, you know that ever since we hit level seventy..." Klein had given Kirito the same lecture three times now, but the boy always shut him down. Here he was listening to the girl though, going to hear her all the way through. "There seem to be more and more irregularities in the monster algorithms."

Kirito nodded, staring straight at her, but thinking about three separate occasions he'd gone into the red despite his safety net in the last month. _Sooner or later, I'm not going to be so lucky._ Asuna continued, "There are unforeseeable things that a solo player can't handle. And it's not like you can always warp out."

Even as he said it, the words tasted bad in his mouth, "I keep a solid safety margin." _That's what I thought when I brought Sachi and the others... and we couldn't warp! This isn't a new concept! It's been happening for years..._

"Kirito!" she said a little louder to the boy and he snapped his head up, looking at the girl whose expression softened a lot from the serious conversation they were having. In a motion she tried not to make too obvious, she wiped her arm next to her own left eye.

The boy wearing black felt the drop start sliding down his face and he blushed hard, _That was embarrassing,_ he wiped it away fast and stated in an arrogant tone, "In any case. Party members are more likely to hinder me, rather than help."

"Oh?" Asuna asked and was out of her seat with a terrifying-looking butter knife in her hand in seconds.

Kirito was sweating all over nervously and said, "I get it. You're the exception."

"Am I?" she asked with a smirk and the boy sighed, looking down in defeat. "In that case, party up with me. It's been forever." _What am I saying? Tomorrow I'm supposed to go training with my guild._ "Black just happens to be my favorite color this week," she added while twirling the knife in her hand. Kirito tried to come up with reasons why she couldn't come with him, talking about her guild and bodyguard, which were the same things she was telling herself at the moment, but she wasn't going back on it after suggesting it.

"I'll ditch him," Asuna said regarding Kuradeel. That was the one point she didn't have as much of a problem with as everything else. _I spend so much more time with Kuradeel, but this has been more fun than I've had in a while. I'd rather spend my time with Kirito than him._ Asuna winked at Kirito and he sighed, passing her his cup for more tea that she graciously filled.

He looked to be deep in thought, but before he could come up with a reply, he looked up to see Asuna already in her menu doing something. The notification appeared in front of his face to join her party, and he took a sip of his tea. "The front lines are dangerous," he started and then found the scary butterknife flashing right in front of his face again, this time stopping an inch from his nose. "F-Fine," he pressed the accept button.

Asuna put away her knife with a fancy twirl and then smiled with her eyes closed. The teenage boy looking at her quickly turned away as he felt his face flush red again, this time for no reason. "Wow, it really got dark fast," he mentioned as he looked through the window and up at the sky. "I should probably let you get some sleep." Asuna lost her smile and actually looked a little disappointed, but Kirito continued, "We have a big day ahead of us, partner," he stood up and held out a hand.

The teenage girl smiled and nodded her head, taking his hand and holding it for a second. Kirito said goodbye, but she told him she'd walk him out and they walked to her front door. Kirito put back on his gear, telling her he'd rather wear it when he was out in public, and she didn't argue, though she thought it was weird since he was heading right back home.

She thanked him for the meal when they were on her front porch, and Kirito replied, "I'd like to say, 'Help me out again,' but I doubt I'll find something like that again."

"Well," Asuna said quickly, hoping this wasn't the last time they could have dinner together. "Even normal ingredients can be finessed if you have the skills..." the two of them both realized just how normal this conversation was and their heads turned simultaneously towards the huge tower in the distance leading up to the sixty second floor.

"The way the world is now. Is this really what Akihiko Kayaba wanted to create?" Asuna didn't know how to answer his question, but when she looked his way and saw the distant look in his eyes, she could see he'd been pondering this for a long time.

The two said farewell and Kirito walked down the street, thinking about Kayaba, Aincrad, the outside world, and then on something much closer, tomorrow. He didn't put his gear on just for appearance sake like he told Asuna. _If I'm going to be in a party, then I have to make sure I'm able to protect her. The two of us should be able to head for the 74th floor dungeon, so I'll head there now and get a better feel for it before tomorrow._

Kirito was so focused on getting up to the floor and training that he completely missed the figure staking out in the shadows near Asuna's house. Kuradeel smirked as the boy walked away and he stared at Asuna's house, _Tomorrow morning,_ the man thought, _I'll kill her tomorrow morning._

**A/N Kuradeel is coming for you Asuna, you better watch out! Haha, Thanks for reading and I hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter even if a lot of it was just canon. There's going to be a lot of canon in the next chapters too with the Gleam Eyes and all, but I hope I can keep it interesting. Now, time for some seriousness: This story is called Sword Art Online Extended, and I originally meant that to mean it was dragged out to show a lot more of what was happening on different floors and during the time skips. However, I can make Extended mean more than one thing. I've been having a lot of ideas for cool floor bosses and a backstory for Liz, as well as more opportunities for OCs and other fun stuff that would keep me interested in this story. I know that a lot of people would be turned off by this idea though and would prefer the story went along perfectly canon, ending at floor 75 like it did originally. Usually I would just make this decision on my own, but I've been thinking about it for a while and there are so many pros and cons for both sides that I really can't decide. So, here's the deal. I've got a poll up on my page right now, if I'm going to change the timeline so that the story continues past the seventy-fifth floor, it will be within the next three chapters, so vote before then and I'll decide on what to do. Do I end the game where it finished in the anime, or do I Extend it? You decide! Anyway, time for reviews!**

mailbox killer

Great chapter, losing will hurt but I think it's coming along nicely, so hurry up with the next chapter

Please

**Yeah, everyone took Will's death pretty hard. He was a strong guy, and he was killed by the antagonists! Damn you LC! Thanks for the review and I'll try to keep uploading chapters as soon as I write them!**

DarkQuacker

RIP Will, thought the anime never did a good job of making them seem like "good" people, just strong people (The Christmas event). IMO, he deserved to die if he didnt have any backup safety plans, no hp pots, no tp crystals, very sloppy leader.

I'm looking forward to seeing how you will portray the Asuna/Kirito pairing (the honeymoon). But first, Kuradeel needs to die (yay) Blacky needs to fight Creator (HYPE).

The last bit about Heathcliff keeping up appearances of never hitting the yellow, the increased speed stats should give Kirito additional clues that hes really a GM. (Though I'm confused how he gave himself the additional speed without going into his menu).

Keep up the great story. One of my favorite things about you as a fan fiction writer is how quickly you post chapters for any plot you are focused on. I only read long stories (i filter for 100k words) and I was really surprised that yours was created maybe 2 weeks before I read it :)

**Yeah back in the Christmas Event, Will was already in charge, but this was before the top guilds started being more open with each other and working together for their common goal. Also, Tamu was in charge of the party that attacked Klein, and that guy's been an ass for a while now, (though he is strong). I don't think Will deserved to die, cuz he _did_ have tp crystals, and potions probably, but when you're surrounded by six guys when are they going to give you a moment to pull one out? He knew they would have stabbed him through the second he tried reaching for anything besides the weapons he had in his hands. Asuna/Kirito is going to be fun whether or not the story gets extended, they're just so awesome together! Heathcliff speeding up... Kirito noticing... things are getting intense as Heathcliff gets closer to being revealed. I'm glad you like how fast I post chapters, and really it's mainly because of my typing speed and ability to lsoe track of time. When I started editing stories today it was 3:00, now its 4:40 and it's barely felt like a few minutes XD! When I get into something, I'll just keep going nonstop! Thanks again for the long review and to everyone who gave feedback on the story! Till next time!**


End file.
